Thursday, Dec. 9th

Pet store kitty pics from Monday are here.

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Here are some great links to check out: Tree Decorating 101, with cats. (thanks, Linda and Melinda!) All cat owners need about ten of these. (thanks, Donna!) A ton of people forwarded this picture to me:
(Thanks, everyone who passed it on!) The evil, eeeeeeevil Shannon passed on an email full of those creepy-ass cats with human faces. I’ve coded them so that the picture will pop up when you click on the link. They’re creepy as hell, did I mention? Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Creepy Cat 1 Creepy Cat 2 Creepy Cat 3 (Thanks, Shannon! I think…)
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Okay, y’all. I need help. I’m looking for something to put atop my tree that isn’t a boring old angel or star. A cute cat tree topper might work, or a smiley face something might, too. I just can’t find anything online that I really like, so I’m asking for suggestions. The Disney store used to carry a Taz angel tree topper with Taz wearing a leather coat, but they’ve stopped carrying them, and there’s only one eBay auction, and it’s going for 5 more days, it’s already $15, and I don’t want to pay $300 for the damn thing, which is what I’m sure it’ll end up at!
So, okay. Leave me suggestions in the comments, or email them to me. Hopefully one of you will suggest something that I really like. Or, more likely, a dozen of you will suggest something I really like, and I’ll have to buy them all. Please, please, please, though – no angels!
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Have I mentioned recently that Getupgrrl quote-unquote rocks? Her quote-unquote commenters crack me up, too. I was going to post a comment about those horrid air quotes, but about fifteen people beat me to it. Air quotes always make me think of Friends, and Joey trying to use them correctly.
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What sucks more than having to go from 565 to south Memorial Parkway? Why, having to go from 565 to south Memorial Parkway in the blinding rain, during rush hour, when it’s practically pitch black outside. And I get to do it again on Saturday. I am FUCKING tired of the rain. Rivers and streams are flooding and there was an accident in Athens this morning that had three fatalities and it’s 63 degrees outside, and I’m hot, and it’s supposed to get cold tomorrow, which means NO DOUBT we’ll have tornadic activity on top of the freakin’ rain and JESUS CHRIST. A little sunshine, please? Is that too much to ask? And a few weeks without a single torrential downpour? UGH.
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From my comments: ohhh i tried to make them [the roasted chick peas] and they taste good (not nearly spicey enough, i’ll use more next time) but how do you dry yours? just leave them out for a while? i tried paper towel but it didnt work too well, they started to shed — unless thats what is supposed to happen 😀 heh. also, do you toss them in oil then add the spices and toss THEN pour them onto the baking sheet? think i messed up there too, i mixed the spices and the oil together then poured it onto the beans directly on the sheet & tossed them up. some were soft others super crunchy… guess i’ll just have to try again! YUM!! 😀 Okay, this is what I do: I open the can, rinse the chick peas under cold water, and then I dump them onto a layer of paper towels. With another piece of paper towel I gently blot them dry, but I don’t go overboard. As long as they’re mostly dry, I’m happy. And yeah, some of them shed a little, but I just pick up the skin (or whatever you’d call it) and toss that. Then I put the entire batch of chick peas in a tupperware container, dump in the oil, add the spices to that, then put the top on the container, and shake, shake, shake the chick peas for about thirty seconds. If no one else is around I might even dance a little, but that’s not required. Then I take the lid off the container, dump the chick peas onto the cookie sheet, and bake. Voila! Mo posted this in my comments last week, and I go back and read it every now and again, and it makes me laugh my ASS off every time. Oh, I can relate to your freaky scaredy cat thing. One morning I woke up to find a VERY heavy hand lying over my face, covering my mouth. I screamed, sat up, looked around, and it was GONE! It had been my own hand, which had fallen into a dead sleep, so I totally could not feel it. Talk about CREEPY. I was just curious that you seem to be an avid reader, but it seems that you always read fiction. Why? You seem to read very fast, so why don’t you take books out of the public library (I am assuming they have public libraries in Alabama) (Don’t mean to sound snobbish). Thanks. I do read the occasional non-fiction, but yeah – mostly I read fiction. That’s just what I prefer, because I like to be told a story in a way that most non-fiction doesn’t tell them. Like I said, though, I do like non-fiction every now and then, but it depends on the author or the subject matter. I particularly like Rick Bragg’s Ava’s Man and Haven Kimmel’s A Girl Named Zippy is a particular favorite. I have at least one and maybe two books by Augusten Burroughs that I haven’t read yet, but I’m looking forward to reading them. I’ve read most everything Ann Rule has written. I don’t read political stuff because it mostly annoys me and I usually don’t read biographies or autobiographies unless I’m particularly interested in the subject and think I might learn something interesting about their life – or unless I’ve heard really good things about the book. My usual rule when reading a book is that if it doesn’t engage me by page 25, it goes into the donation box. With non-fiction, I usually only give it about 10 pages. Because if you can’t get my interest in the first 10 pages of a book about your life story, that’s a pretty boring life you’ve got going on, there. I don’t take books out of the public library (and Madison has a really good one) mostly because I like to read a book when I feel like reading it, and if I have a book that’s due back at the library in two weeks, it makes me feel like I can’t take my time enjoying it. (Of course, I don’t think it ever takes me two weeks to read a book, but it’s the principle of the thing!) I like to add books to my wish list so that I’ll remember I want to read them, and when we get a little unexpected money, the first thing we always want to do is buy a bunch of stuff at Amazon. I look at my bookcase of to-be-read books, and it just makes me happy. I love books, and I love the fact that it would probably take me a year of reading to clear off that bookcase. Plus, having a wish list full of the books I want to read makes it easy when Christmas rolls around and people want to know what I want for Christmas! You (or Fred?) had a recipe (or instructions?) for cooking oat bran. I used to enjoy it, but when I tried to make it from memory, it tasted like ass. Could you post it (them?) again? Sorry I can’t be more specific. Except for the oat bran muffins recipe, I absolutely do not remember an oat bran recipe at all. I think that Fred just takes the oat bran, adds water, throws in a handful of berries, and cooks as long as the package directs. He might add some Splenda, too.
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Meester Boogers does his Donald Trump impression. “Yer FIRED!”
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30 thoughts on “Thursday, Dec. 9th”

  1. BEST KITTY PICTURE EVER!! Ohmyfuckinggod, “Yer Fired”…ahahahaha Now we know what Trump will look like when he goes grey! haha

  2. I do not like those Creepy Cat pictures. Especially number 3. I do not like them one bit. And yet I was morbidly fascinated enough to look at each of them so I could be creeped out. *shudder shudder*

  3. I have a nice big bow for a tree topper. I had it made at a craft store (can’t make my own with my two left hands and all). It has the wire edges so I can twist it and shape it to look its best. (I’ll email a pic).
    Another thought: saw this at a craft show and it was too cute. Someone took a black top hat, added a sprig of holly and some fake snow and plopped it on top of a tree. Though I have no idea where to buy a top hat…

  5. re Mo’s comment about finding her hand on her mouth in the middle of the night:
    Search “alien hand syndrome” — it’s real …

  9. *howling*!!! Oh, dear Lord…what is that on his head? Ive said it many times Robyn, I am not a cat person – but your cats crack me up. If I could be guaranteed one with as much personality as yours have, I might just get one. Silly kitties.

  10. Yeah…about that rain? Seems about 6 feet of it ended up in the basement of the house we aren’t even living in yet. If you could find a way to just make the rain stop before we get there, that would just be aces!

  11. I just LOVE the creepy cats. I guess I have very strange taste. Is it my imagination or does the creepy cat #3 look like Jack Nicholson in “The Shining”?

  12. OMG! I am sitting here at work trying not to burst out in tearful, hysterical laughter at the Bean pictures. Best.Cat.Picture.EVAH!

  14. Dear Lord – I laughed so hard at that “Trump’s Twin” picture of Stanley, I nearly peed in my pants. Warn a girl, before you post something that hilarious, o.k.?

  16. OMG now THAT is the funniest thing ever!!! Bean is hilarious!!!!!!!! What is on his head?? HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA

  17. I hope you don’t find this morbid,because I mean it as a tribute. Take a fav photo of Tubby,blow it up to preferred size,cut out Tubby and back it with stiff paper/or card,add wings and halo. ‘Tis perfect tribute for the purrfect angel! :o)

  18. I’m glad y’all are enjoying the Meester Boogers pictures. I was QUITE proud of them (I came up with the idea; Fred actually took the pictures).
    That thing on his head is a big pile of hair I’d just spent twenty minutes brushing off of Miz Poo. I pulled the hair out of the brush and set it on the table next to the couch so I’d remember to throw it away, and then I realized that it looked like a little kitty toupee. Heh.

  20. Robyn I so tried to get you to go look at that #2 scary cat photo a week ago. Heh.
    I got it in an email titled friend that lives by nuclear plant trying to give away last 3 kitties!
    I am loving the Bean and his D. Trump imitation..very lifelike!

  21. How about some sort of cat for the tree topper? (a stuffed animal of course!). You could put wings or a santa outfit, leather jacket, whatever. My mother
    actually used an antique feather duster this year and it looks beautiful!

  22. The “caution” sign is quite possibly the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. If only we could get the cat to put it out herself when she’s … uh … done.

  23. Purple Chai – my foot agrees with you on that one. This morning – cold ick on my foot.
    I love Furly and his buddy – forgot his name. One of my co-workers was explaining to me she was decorating her tree last night and turned around and was eye to eye with her dear boy. I told her to use picture hanging wire and wire the tree to the curtain rod. Works well – my parents did with with Tinker the Stinker for many years.

  25. Robyn….Rick Bragg is one of my fave writers. If you liked “Ava’s Man”, you will LURVE “All Over But the Shoutin'”…it was one of those rare books where I find myself laughing out loud while reading….oh, I loved the Zippy book too.
    I just bought a ton of discounted books w/a gift card I got from the boyfriend (from last Christmas, if you can fathom that, I forgot I had it) and it is heaven over here!!!

  26. Robyn, I second the idea about a Tubby Angel. How about one of Mr. Fancypants and make them “Dueling Angels.”
    P.S. Thanks again for the great laugh….the pictures of Meester Boogers are hilarious!!!

  27. Did you get your Tivo set up? I’m looking into it, but I’m not sure I can do the connections. I have a VCR, DVD player, and cable box hooked up to an older TV now, and I’m not sure if there’s enough room and connections for yet another component. It says a broadband and a ‘one time’ phone connection. Was this difficult? Any pointers you can give? Sorry if this was already posted and I missed it.

  28. Treetop idea: simple and cost’s zero $$. Although your tree already has the string(s) of lights on it already. I usually end my lights at the top of the tree and use the last 5 and align them like steps up and steps down if that makes sense. It would sort of look like your hand only with a longer thumb so it looks balanced. I use twist ties (green) to keep them together and another twist tie to secure them to the top branch. It’s simple, clean looking, and doesn’t overpower the tree.

  29. Please forgive me for being picky, and although I wasn’t there when you bought it, but I’m pretty sure that the Disney Store would never sell the Tazmanian Devil ornament because he is a Warner Bros. character. I just had to clarify that point.
    Have a good Christmas.

  30. Kuzcolike: yeah, I’m sure you’re right – I think I must have seen it in a Warner Bros. catalog. I just tend to think of all cartoons as being Disney characters. 🙂

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