RIP Cute Brown Shoes

I got some cute brown heels at Goodwill over Christmas.  I wore them for the first time the other day, out to the library, to see how well they did on my feet.  They were perfect, no blisters, my feet did not hurt, and they looked cute.  I only put my shoes up once a week, when I get tired of them on my bedroom floor, usually the same day I sort laundry.  I was sorting laundry and looked down and realized something was wrong with the shoes.  They honestly looked like my old worn out pair of flats in the heel region.  When I picked it up I saw teeth marks, and there are two animals in my house that love shoes.  My cat Lacy, leaves teeth marks in shoes but she only does damage the you can see up close and prefers flip flops to heels.  My pup, Memphis destroyed a croc sandal right after I got him, to the point I had trouble identifying the shoe.  He also chewed a house slipper up the day I bought it, but again only a couple months after I got him. 

I pretty much know Memphis is responsible for this:

He hates it when I am gone in the evenings, if I left while it was still light. 

He has also destroyed blinds, robes, his leash hook, and one leash.  He also has a tendency to get so into sucking on something that he unintentionally causes damage.  I have a couple of towels, a book, and a pillow that can speak for that habit.

But I can never stay mad at him when he looks at me like this, just seconds before I left for my babysitting job yesterday.



Babysitting Weekend is OVER!!!!

Over the last three days of babysitting I have:

--Watched 6 Barbie movies (I will be re-watching one so I can focus, it was pretty cute)
--Watched 1 Other movie with one of my favorite kiddos (Nim's Island ~ a awesome movie for older elementary kids)
--Put kiddos in timeout 4 times but threatened it many many more times
--Played dress-up, Barbies, trains, and Rapunzel
--Was asked by one persistent little girl if I would play: Ariel's Father, Gothal (from Barbie's Rapunzel), the Bad person, the witch, the Big Sister, the Prince, and a fellow princess
--Spent two hours pushing 2 little girls on the swing
--Spent one hour telling one little girl to stop picking up tools in the backyard (her dad is putting together a play scape for her birthday).
--Changed a few diapers
--Been sneezed and coughed on
--Been pinched, kicked, scratched, and hit


Despite all of that I have had a great three days.  I also now adore Barbie movies, they make me feel like a little kid again.  The weekend was perfect for this particular weekend.  Yesterday marked one year since I was in a reduction in force.  I had been trying to figure out what I would do for the last month.  I was worried I would be upset, so I originally was planning to head to the movies or spend the day wandering around the mall.  I figured that would help keep my mind off things.  However babysitting was perfect because it hit me while I was writing this that the 3rd has already passed and I did not even remember.  Pretty cool!!!

The orange mass...

So I was checking the web to see if something else would look like this and I discovered this website.

http://msucares.com/news/print/lgnews/lg07/070607.html 

"Balbalian said this fungus is usually found on the ground and looks like orange dog vomit. It is lumpy and flat, and its color can range from pink to red or orange. It starts out moist, but dries to form a hard crust as it matures. Inside are dark black, powdery spores."

That is exactly what it looks like and I guess what I thought was gray fur is actually the spores inside.  I feel better now.

Grossed Out

I was just out watering my grass and as I was turning on the water I noticed a bright orange substance in my lilies.  I thought it looked like one of the dogs had been sick but as I tried to wash it away I noticed a square of what looked like gray fur.  Plus it is not washing away. 

A couple of days ago I noticed gray fur or feathers in the far corner of the flower bed but could not identify what it may be, so I left it alone.  After seeing this orange mass I looked farther down and notice that the other furry mass was a dead bird (yet again, I already removed one dead bird from the flower bed a couple of weeks ago).  The flower bed smells a bit from the orange stuff, but it is faint.  My best guess is that the previous owners buried a pet in that flower bed and part of it may be pushing up.

I am now completely grossed out though and don't want to bother taking care of either the dead bird or the orange mass today.  However trash gets picked up tomorrow and I probably should buckle down and just take care of it now.  Then again I do need to add mulch so I may just mulch over it.  I want the lilies to start covering the bed though, I am sick of finding things inside that flower bed.

What a day!!!!

My day started with me not hearing the first 3 alarms on my cell phone (I usually set about 4 alarms), but I still made it up in time to at least get a little done before leaving for my babysitting job.  While I was writing in my journal this morning I was pretty distracted by the kids in my neighbors yard that were distracting both pups and my cat Lacy.  At one point I was watching Memphis through the crack in the open door and I decided I would try and take his picture without him knowing.  I managed a couple of cute shots....

After I tried to get back to writing, I started to have a conversation with my cat, Lacy and she was listening so well, that I took her picture as well.

Now Vegas is a bit of a model.  She always has the perfect pose and adores the camera.  She really is Memphis' opposite in every way.  She heard me taking pictures, so of course she wanted her picture taken as well.  One shot and it is as cute as can be.

I left for babysitting with not a second to spare.  My kiddos today were a pair of sisters I have watched for two years.  I thought today would be pretty easy because I would be there during nap time and we would probably only have a hour of play time before their grandmother came to get them.  Luck was not on my side.  While the younger one did sleep most of that time, the older one didn't, but she still had to be quiet until her sister woke up.  I spent about 2 hours watching Barbie movies and being asked "Why" every few seconds.  She is lucky she is so adorable.  One time during the afternoon I went downstairs to check on their dogs.  ~~The dogs are still young and one is huge so they tend to get into things.  Normally they are not inside but they were already inside when I got there.~~  I was a little worried at first because I could not find them and then I turned the corner and saw this.  Now the little one has his own kennel but I guess they just love each other too much to sleep alone.

The last part of day was the part I had been excited to get done.  I have had a leak in my shower for the last week.  However my dad is away for two weeks and could not come help me fix it.  Not only was the sound driving me crazy but it was wasting a lot of water and I could not figure out what to do with the water since it is soften water and cannot be used on the plants. 

After talking with my dad a couple days ago he told me he thought the cartridge needed replaced but you need a special tool to do that.  My mom brought me the tool when I met her for dinner Thursday and tonight I picked up the new cartridge.  My next step was to call my dad and he talked me through replacing the cartridge.  I messed up once and ended up soaked but after that I managed to get the shower fixed.  Finally no more leaky shower and for the most part I did it myself.  Here is the old cartridge in case you don't know what it I am talking about. 

The joys of home ownership!!!

Last night

Last night while I was printing off pictures from my computer, I noticed my cat, Lacy hanging around her old scratching pad (for a card board pad it has held up well, I think it is about 5 years old).  I have not given in to her catnip addiction for awhile, but I decided to let her have some fun and put out a fair amount on the pad.  Her is a little video of her taking a catnip bath. 

I took this picture to show her eyes while on catnip.

Here she decided she had the munchies and lead me to the kitchen.



Here is the scratching pad when she was finished.  Catnip is all over the office now.

Busy Day leading into a BUSY weekend

So I had a interview today and like all interviews I have no idea how it went.  I spent a lot of time in my car today with a interview 45 minutes away and then dinner with my mom (thanks mom it was really good, especially the dessert) also 45 minutes away.  You would think I would be exhausted but I am still wired and it is after midnight.  Not good since tomorrow begins three days of babysitting. 

I am looking forward to babysitting this weekend because I have this weird feeling that my life will be changing soon and this may be the last time I get to babysit these kiddos.  All of which I have been babysitting on a regular basis for the past two years.  I have also had this weird feeling that I will never see the completion on the road expansion near me (but not in a death sort of way, in a things are going to turn around fast sort of way).  Who knows if either feeling is correct but I have been treating each day like my last time doing those things.  I think it is making me a better babysitter.  I also enjoy every place I visit in my town more.


On a side note~~~  My interview was in a very old school and I loved the smell of the school.  So I am wondering am I the only one that loves the smell of a really old school???  It just brings about a really cozy feeling.

In case you were wondering~~  I did look into jobs away from teaching but after my first interview for a job outside of teaching I broke down into tears.  I just cannot see myself having a job that does not involve teaching.