COLD COLD COLD FREAKING COLD!!!!

How cold is it? Even the cats won't go out!! Actually, thats not quite true - they won't STAY out. They want to go out every little while just to confirm, yup, it's still cold out here - and then they want back in - IMMEDIATELY! Some of the older ones are smarter (or lazier) and they sleep, but Buddy and Nibbles like to check out the temp on a regular basis! right now it is minus 22 with a windchill making it minus 28. cold!

Yesterday was crazy, too. Blowing snow - whiteouts on the roads. Monday was raining (while the sun was shining) too weird.

As anyone noticed the moon tonite? It is supposed to be the brightest moon all year. Rick and I were looking out the back bedroom window at it (cause it's too freaking cold to go OUTSIDE to look at it) and it is bright enough that you can really see into the bush. Almost like the time Jamie brought home a pair of night vision goggles. They really worked - could see deeper in the bush than during the day!

And (according to Jamie, who would know) these fabulous night vision goggles were so good he could drive in the dark without head-lights. Things mother's don't need to know!!!

So, the moon's bright - check it out!

I tried to order that book "get in the kitchen, bitches" but they were sold out - I'll try in a couple of weeks - it really looks worthwhile picking up.

I don't know why, but I'm addicted to two or three strange shows lately - "Man vs. Food" - one of these guys who can eat a 5 pound burger or a 6 foot pizza. Don't know why, but I'm fascinated. They other one is "Ramsey's kitchen nightmares" Gordon Ramsey is a British chef who goes to restaurants that are failing badly and he "fixes" them by totally cursing out the owners, the chefs (particularly the chefs) the servers etc. It is the most confontational show you can imagine (even if it's fake, which I totally doubt) and I (who hate confrontations) again, am fascinated with it.

So, to sum up - I like to watch people stuffing their faces, and getting screamed and cursed at. hmmmmm..... good thing NASCAR is starting in a few weeks!

here's a puzzle kids - have fun!

So, I spent the entire day in the office something I don't usually do. We have "duty time" where an agent is to be on duty in the office to answer the real estate line & people who just walk in. We used to split between 3 agents and just do half days, but since Barry retired, it is just myself and one other agent, Dennis, so it is one day on, one day off. At this time of year it is fairly quiet and can more for a long day.

HOWEVER, as I usually do when bored (or when I should be doing something else) I was surfing the net checking out new receipes (I'm not sure why I'm always checking out new recipes, I hardly EVER actually use them - we're boring eaters and just keep eating the same old stuff over and over again. Last year Rick and I discovered Wendy's taco salad and you would have thought we discovered a new food group!!)

ANYWAY, I noticed an ad for a cookbook that is called "get in the kitchen, bitches" that looked hilarious. The intro to the book on their website is a riot - I highly recommend googling "whipped and beaten" to check out the book. I may even order it - who can resist "trailer park chicken marsala" don't know what it is - but sounds like fun to make. I'll probably order it just to read it!

Today's picture is one emailed to me to celebrate "National Girlfriend's Day" I just like it.

pins and needles

not to rant about things I can't change (like the Chinese peaches & the crazy way we feed our cats) but I would like to know what happened to pins!!! Why don't they work anymore??? Back in the day (like 40 or 50 years ago) if you used safety pins or straight pins, those suckers would go through ANYTHING - layers of denim, fake leather, fake fur, burlap ...ANYTHING!!

Now, they just bend. I have a pin cushion full of bent pins and a drawer full of useless, wimpy safety pins. I have bought expensive "dressmaker's" pins and they're no better - wimpy, limp pins. Does no one at the pin factory actually sew? Do they not test them to make sure they can pierce something heavier that kleenex tissues???? I guess not!

Anyhoo, weather is back to normal - after a totally freaky day yesterday of heavy rain & warm temperatures - last nite we had cooler temps and some nice fluffy snow fell to cover up the horrible grey/brown slushy crap the rain left - everything looked very pretty this morning - nice. I'm all about the "look" - don't care what's underneath!

Kris came home tonite with "horrible" news - I was expecting the worst - maybe his car died, maybe SOMEBODY died. Turns out the stray cat he was feeding at the landfill site (the dump) had disappeared. (I like cats (obviously) but at least this disappearance means he won't be bringing another cat home...& it also explains where some of our cat food was going!)

Quite upset, Kris investigated the situation and it seems the the cat got into a dumpster of cardboard and was unceremoniously dumped into the Beaumen's Recycling truck when it made a cardboard pickup the other day. I'm not sure how many people Kris had to talk to (read interrogate) to find this out, but he wound up at Beaumen's, confirmed the story, and wandered around their yard calling for the cat (Oh, I'm sure he's named it!!! & it's probably a "her" who's about to give birth!) It would seem the cat, although lost, was unhurt as the employees at Beaumen's said it took off "pretty quick" once it was on the ground.

Kris is still worried about it, though - he just left a few minutes ago, saying that he would be out "for a little while". Damn, I should have checked his pockets for cat food...... That's my "tough" Kris!

In other animal news, one of his lizards laid an egg - which is, of course,.......exciting.......sort of. I'm thinking the other lizards eat it - but, I'm not going to say that out loud.

Things are getting busier at the office - always good news in my world!

Pictures today are, again, care of my wonderful sister-in-law, Janet - my nephew, Wes and his sister Solina Mae - pretty cute kids!

neat picture!

We've been quite the "stay-at-homers" for the past few days watching the Barrett-Jackson car auction on TV. The prices are certainly down from previous years. Rick pays much more attention to it than I do. I surf the net on my laptop or read - I gennerally only get excited when a really neat car comes on or maybe one I can afford!

Last year was the best auction in my opinion - Doris Day's Mercedez Benz sold for $7,500 (that's in the "I can afford that!!!!" category) and then they auctioned off iRobosaurus. For those of you who don't know - Robosaurus is the fire-breathing, U.S.) Anyway, I quite liked Robosaurus, thought it would look good on my front lawn - but it fell into the "really neat" category not the "I can afford that" category - it sold for $575,000. Which really was a bargain since it cost over $5million to build! I also liked the Ghosst-Busters car and the pair of Sonny and Cher matching Mustangs - hers was in 3 shades of pink and lots of fake zebra fur - even on the floors - gotta love THAT! LOL

btw in case you still can get a visual, here's a link to a picture of Robosaurus:
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/07/fire-breathing-car-eating-robosaurus-to-be-sold-at-barrett-jack/ or just Google robosaurus

Other than that I've been doing the usual showing houses - I did an Open House today in Renfrew. Real Estate is picking up - I think it is a combination of the weather - not a lot of snow - and the fact the January is nearly over. Everyone planning to move in the Spring, is starting now to look at houses and get theirs ready to put on the market. My time of year!

Today's picture is my dad on his Indian motorcycle (guess they didn't have to worry about being politically correct back then) This picture would have been taken in the 40's I think. Thank you sooooo much, Janet, for sending it to us!

No boots

Can you believe it? Middle of January & I went for a walk in Renfrew today in my shoes! Had to side step the odd puddle, but still pretty darn good for this time of the year. However, I guess I ticked off the weather gods, because later this afternoon it started to snow! Not much accumulation, but a sign that it really is winter.

I'm hearing some grumbling from area snow-mobilers. We haven't had enough snow to groom the trails - I don't think they are even open yet(at least not around here) One of the reasons Rick gave it up - too many short seasons.

Cats are enjoying the milder weather, though - they like to run in and out...and in and out...and NEVER two at the same time. We have talked about a cat door but we're concerned they might bring their little friends home - or their dinner.... We'll talk about it some more.

I did an Open House on Sunday at a brand new garden home in Renfrew. Two couples came stopped in to look - which isn't bad for an Open House in January. Then I talked to a real estate in Ottawa who had over 30 people to her Open House. sigh..

Rick just finished playing one of those scratch Bingo Lottery games - he didn't win anything - SURPRISE!!! We sort of got hooked on them at Christmas when Kris got us one each. Actually, we seemed to win in the beginning - but now....just a bunch of losers. I'm sure it's a conspiracy - they let you win when you first start and then WHAM - you're sucked in. losers!

I printed the NASCAR schedule today and noticed that the first practice for the Bud Shoot-out is on the 4th of Feb - only a few short weeks away. Another off-season survived! LOL

today's pic was just taken - I just popped outside (to look for the cats) and I snapped this picture - to show that I really did anger the weather gods - look at the snow on Rick's Jetta! \

And Buddy having a nap - he's so freaking cute!

CATS CATS CATS

Ever do something so often you don't think about it anymore??? and THEN it totally hits you that what you are doing isn't quite right???

We have 5 cats (which, if you have been reading my blog, you probably already know) and we have to feed these 5 cats in 3 different rooms.

We feed Max and Tigger, the two oldest cats, in the laundry room - which is a pretty good, out-of-the-way place for their food bowls. And it is where we always fed all our cats.

Until.......we got Missy 4 or 5 years ago. Max and Tigger took an instant and quite violent dislike to Missy. There was no way she would have been able to eat beside Max and Tigger. So, in order to provide Missy a nice safe and monitored place to eat, we started feeding her in the living room where one of us could keep an eye on things. Consequently, Missy will only eat in the living room.

When Nibbles showed up, she was very pregnant and starving all the time, so I took to feeding her in the kitchen where I could make sure no one stole her food - She didn't mind Max or Tigger or Missy, and probably would have eaten wherever I put her bowl, but the others might have stolen her food. Then when Buddy was old enough to eat "real" food, he (of course) wanted to eat with mom (Nibbles) in the kitchen.

Soooooooo....to recap. 2 bowls in laundry room, 1 bowl in living room, 2 bowls in kitchen.

ARE WE INSANE??????? And, YES, I have, on occasion, TRIED to get everybody (well, the cats, not us...) to eat in the laundry room - if not beside each other, at least in the same room!!! BUT, when I try this little experiment, they (the cats) get totally confused and run to their preferred spots (kitchen or living room) and if I pick them up and plunk them in front of their bowl, they bolt. And I'm left with a 5 bowls of cat food that, apparently, simply cannot be eaten unles placed in the proper spot.

So, I have to put the bowls back in the "right" places in the right rooms, track down the cats (who have by now scattered like panicked cock-roaches) try to re-assure them that the sky is NOT falling, their world is NOT collapsing and put them in front of their assigned bowl in its assigned place.

And.......they're just too freaked out to eat....and just sort of crouch there waiting for me to leave so they can run away....again. sigh

picture today is Buddy on the back of the couch - he is just too cute! My sister-in-law Janet, pointed out that the backs of our couches are all squashed down (like theirs) from the cats lieing there. ya gotta love 'em.

Busy Day!!!

Guess I'm starting to shake off my "holiday indolence" - trouble with slowing down is that it is freaking hard to ramp up again!

Yesterday was a fine, clear day as far as weather so Rick and I drove into Ottawa for some post Christmas visits. First we stopped to see sister Ginny Lynn. We didn't stay too long as she had a couple of kids she was babysitting and we were holding up their lunch. Besides, it's been a while since we have had "kiddy noise" in the background and I think Rick's limit was reached after a couple of hours. Still, it was good to see Ginny, and she has the house looking very nice. Ginny now has two Jack Russell dogs. One is slightly chubbier than the other as you can see in the picture.

After our visit with Ginny, we went on to see my brother and his wife for a quick visit. Always wonderful to see Phil and Janet (check out their website - http://www.sageelectronics.com/bovasound) really enjoyed the chat, guys. We promise to try to visit more often!

Made a quick stop, too, at IKEA for curtain rods - best price around! - and then home to help Kris do the brakes on the car.

Well, to be honest, Rick helped Kris with the car - I actually made a tea and surfed the net. hahaha

Pictures are from yesterdays adventure - Ginny's dogs Brandy (or Brandi with an i) and Callie and then Rick with Phil and Janet's lovely dog, Tasha. y'know what Tasha is saying??? "I WUV you Rick" just look at those eyes!

well, it's official - I'm sick of slushy sidewalks and snowy roads! And it's only January! guess I better get over it. Not that we've had TONS of snow - it just snows a little bit every day so they can never really get things cleaned up! I also hate fussing with boots and coats. Its exhauting when showing a bunch of houses - by the last house, we're all just slinging coats over our shoulders and stomping out with boots barely on our feet - hahahha

Okay enough whining! It's January in Canada and it's gonna be cold and snowy, isn't it?????

Rick and I do want to make a run into Ottawa to do some visiting - but we are hoping for a day when there isn't any snow in the forecast so we don't have to worry about the road conditions.

And when we're in Ottawa I want to make a stop at Ikea - I need a bunch of curtain rods and Ikea has some for under $15 - which is a really good price (and they are NOT made in China)

speaking of "made in china" - I can't believe how much food I'm suddenly seeing in the grocery stores that's from China. I gotta say, I'm pretty cautious about buying food from China - I've heard they don't have quite the quality controls we have in North America....

and I REALLY don't like the way the stores try to sneak it past us - like some cans of peaches I saw at WalMart with the brand name "Austral" - which makes it sound like the peaches cane from Down Under, right??????? WRONG!! product of China - hmmmmm.....

And I don't like those vague "made from imported products" labels either! TELL ME WHERE IT CAME FROM, DAMMIT!!!!!

Anyhoo, today's picture is Nibbles looking particularly relaxed ('cuz Nibbles doesn't care WHERE her food comes from as long as is shows up in her bowl at regularly scheduled intervals of her choosing!

Man, it's cold!!!! For the last few days it's just been really cold & quite windy. We have been holed up in our house - reluctant to go outside! Yesterday, we watched a bunch of older movies (remember Jumpin' Jack Flash with Whoopi Goldberg? good movie!) and a few others. Nice fire going, couple of books, internet, nintendo DS - I mean, why go out??????

Yesterday we took down and put away the Christmas decorations. The house looks so bare now - like we just moved in or something! We haven't had a ton of snow but it's been so windy Rick's had to clean the laneway nearly every day. Today, Kris offered to do it - BONUS!

Max seems to be doing a bit better on his medicatiion. At least we have not found any evidence of him spraying. Can't say I notice any difference in his personality - Max was always pretty mellow, though, so it's kinda hard to tell.

Guess we'll head into town shortly - we need to pick up a few things (like cat food - ALWAYS cat food!!!) Hopefully the roads will be okay - Kris said even Hwy 17 is snow-packed, but maybe by this afternoon they will be better

Today's pictures - Kris blowing the laneway (looks cold, doesn't it) and our youngest cat, Buddy, looking particularly cute! but then he doesn't have to try very hard....