Fitting in.

I have a migraine, but then again I've had it on and off for 2 weeks now. There's only one way to get rid of it, but Hubby is still totally stressed out, so it's not going to happen.

In other news:

Orion is totally fitting in.

It took 4 days but he made friends with everyone. Including Zentara. I am so thrilled! Especially since I fell in love with him hard on the first night. It was so hard not to. He sleeps with Squee and Ebony and Ivory. Hunts Zentara's tail, but she eggs him on and plays in her own way. He and Ivory wrestle and chase each other all over the house, ensuring Ivory get exercise, Squee lets him pounce his tail, with the patience of a Daddy lion playing with his cub. Ebony, oh lordy! Ebony seems to have youthened 10 years. Running, wrestling, chasing, playing hide-and-go-seek. It's amazing.

Hubby fell in love too.

Sunday

So on Sundays we decided that was the day the yard work would be done.

Let it be said let it be done.

I usually mow the lawn. Personally love it.

The dog pen, bit enough to hold 2 full grown German Shepherds with room to run, hasn't been mowed in 3 weeks. It was completely overgrown. Daddy also warned me that it was full of holes where the dogs dug. Yesterday I was determined to tackle the pen while Hubby geared up and worked on his own thing.

Well. I stalled out the mower no less than 3 times cause the grass was so thick. I got stuck in holes twice. And I had to "rock" the mower forward 4 times to keep it going, thanks to thick grass.

Fun? Yes.

Nerve wracking? YES!

Mower came out safe and not broken? Hell yes!!

I did scare the bajeezes out of a little bunny in the pen. Poor thing hopped 4 feet straight into the air from a thicket of grass and beelined to the fence. BAM! Right into the fence. The next second it scampered across the backyard and into the woods , safe and maybe not so sound.

Hubby did do something very important, moving some concrete blocks around. Let me show you.

Cute, eh? Like a turret. The blocks are set up to protect a pipe that carries out water to the septic tank. I can't mow over it cause the blades can break the pipe, and with Daddy all the way in Minnesota, we'd be fooked.  Now it nice and protected. Thank the gods!

After finishing up the dog pen Hubby came up to the mower.

"My turn."

"What?"

"My turn."

"On the mower?"

He nodded.

Shrugging I dismounted and let him climb on.

"How do I work it?"

Hiding a smile I schooled him on the mower and set him loose. Wanna see?

Totally cute!

Please take note of his spiffy leather gloves, bought specifically for yard work.. His hat, Monsters Inc. And his shoes, no sandals, shoes. He's serious.

Gotta say, we got all hot and sweaty yesterday, gross. Worth it though, the backyard looks great.

Toxic

I've come to the conclusion that money is toxic, at least in my household. When we have some everything is okay, but when we don't everything changes. The mood of my household that is.

Hubby becomes so very upset. He doesn't say anything, but his while body language, voice, and energy changes. It's personally very upsetting to me. I can't get him to talk about it or even just vent, and I feel like I can't do anything to help. I get very quiet.

It's worse when I'm having my period. Like today and last night. I feel so defeated. This has been going on for years now, but it seems so much worse the past 6 months. Especially since we moved.

It doesn't help that he gets even more upset every time we find a spider. Which also happened last night.

I'm hoping that things get better as time goes on, but that's just hope.

Elvenspun

It's open! My Etsy shop if now officially open.

I'm all a jumble of excited and scared and anxious. It's wonderful.

As per my sewing business that was quite successful before the recession, I've stayed with the name Elvenspun. It's just fitting.

Shop: Elvenspun

 Facebook Page

DeviantArt Page


Right now I'm focusing on the sculptures, but as soon as I get all settled in, the sewing will start again.

Also, if I get 100 likes on my Facebook page I'll host a givaway!

Go on, check it out!

The Foundling

On Thursday night, Hubby walked into the house and called me to the door. There he held a pet carrier up.

"Say hello to your new Mommy."

His voice was filled with tenderness. If he wasn't in love yet, well he was taken at least.

I was breathless and couldn't take my eyes off the tiny little black ball of fur with white splashes.

I was enchanted and took the carrier. Setting it down on the living room floor I greeted our baby, letting all of our kitties have a chance to sniff while he was safely behind a caged door. It didn't take long before I couldn't resist for a moment longer and opened the door, pulling him out, unsure of what I'd find.

He was clean, eyes bright (even though it was 3am), and very aware of his new surroundings. He didn't seem to have any fleas either. Hubby and I watched, and played with him, while he was intent on making new friends with his (new) siblings. After a few minutes I looked up very pleased.

"I think he fits his name perfectly."

It's very important for me to have a name that fits the personality. This time though, when Hubby first told me about the kitten, when we were still considering it, before he said no, I told him, the baby would be named Orion. I've never ever named anyone or thing before meeting and interacting.

Orion's Belt has always been my favorite constellation. Taking the dog for walks, growing up, at night, the three stars have always been there. A sense of peace and contentment has always filled me whenever I turn my eyes upon them.

We kept him with us last night. There's more than enough growling and hissing going on between the 4 big kitties. Especially Ivory. I didn't want to wake up to find that something awful had happened. So little Orion got his own litter pan, food, and water bowl, and even his own soft plushie kitty toy to play with while we slept.

He was AMAZINGLY quiet last night. Sleeping for a very long time and then quietly going potty and munching food. At about 1pm he climbed up on the bed and started playing, but I wiggled my fingers to him and he spent the next 2.5 hours sleeping on me or playing on my legs while I read a book.

Hubby spent time playing with him after waking up before going to work while I tried to work a kink out of my neck that Orion had decided war the purrrrfect place to sleep.

Today Orion was very determined to make friends with the big kitties. Just as all of our kitties have done when they were little. He got the same response too. Hisses and growling. That will last for about a week or so. Ivory is the only one who has "hunted" and cornered Orion and aggressively hit him. (Don't worry, no claws were used, no boo-boos, and I rescued Orion every time.) It's gonna take Ivory time to adjust to not being the baby, and to reinforce the idea that he's NOT the dominate male. But! I did catch Ivory and Orion eating in separate bowls, side by side for about 10 minutes earlier today.

Zentara has been following Orion around, keeping her distance.

Squee and Ebony, both have been keeping their distance, but allowed Orion to sleep about a foot away from each of them.

Here's our baby last night and today. I found a single flea on him, so he's going to get a bath. It's amazing to see him leaping from couch to footstool with no abandon. Determined to follow the "big kitties" around and even try to pounce them. He'swonderful to carry around and has the sweetest purr, but best of all, he's makes little noises that reminds me of stardust.

Some people REALLY piss me off.

So the other day, Hubby told me one of his employees called him and said that they found a little tuxedo 9 week old kitten someone dumped in the theater dumpster, and ask if he wanted it.

We mulled the idea around a little but, but ultimately he decided no.

So today the same employee was talking to Hubby explaining how she already had 7 kitties and really didn't have room for the baby.

Well.

Hubby called me.

"How badly do you want that little kitten?"

I was shocked, and lamely mumbled something about not wanting a new baby to mess us our relationship, or upset him more, or be the foundation of him resenting me.

He said that he was already beyond stressed about the move, and spiders, and everything else, the kitten wouldn't break him. And besides, I was the one at home all day, not him. He didn't care.

So.

The baby kitty will be coming home. Either tonight or tomorrow. It's a boy, about 9 weeks old.

I still can't wrap my mind around that someone threw out another living creature, literally, like a piece pf trash. It pisses me off to no freakin' end! ANY and ALL animals are creatures with souls, feelings, and needs. Not trash! I swear.

If we can't handle the baby we'll rehome him to someone who can.

I dearly hope he settles in to our pride. It's gonna be hectic re-adjusting to a baby. Especially when all of our kitties have settled into adulthood and calmed down. But now Ivory is gonna get what's coming to him, after all the torture (playfulness) he gave the other 3, it's time for a taste of his own medicine.

Birthday Overload?

Well this past week was my birthday, and I have to say Hubby pulled off a kicker of a surprise for me.

We went up to a restaurant near his job and nommed (oh it was good!). Then he dropped me off at Jo-Ann Fabrics so I could look around while he was a sweetie to pick up my friend. The plan was that she was going to hang out at the theater with me for a few hours while he was working and I was going to stay with him at work all day.

He was all dressed for work, told me his manager had given him a extra hour to spend with me, cause she couldn't give him the day off, and even brought his lunch. We went into his job, got tickets, and he said he was walking me into the theater. Now about this time 2 of his employees kept exclaiming that they didn't think he worked that day, so I was suspicious. Then I asked him with movie we were going to see, and he said Pacific Rim. That made little butterflies in my tummy flutter about cause he said he didn't want me to see that movie without him. One of our other friends joined us, then he lead us into the theater and plopped down, announcing that he had the day off and the next 3 days as well! I squee'd and kissed him, quite happy.

We watched the movie (awesome, btw) and parted ways. Hubby and I swung by McD's for a sweet tes(me) and caramel frappe (him) and drove our happy butts home.

We spent the next day lounging and cleaning the house a bit. Mostly lounging. The day was perfect, we even went to Dairy Queen. Until a huge mammoth of a spider made it's way into the bathroom while we were showering. Most of the spiders we've been finding around the house are all legs. Pretty big, but easily squishable. (I've taken to calling Hubby Slayer lately.) This spider, this bastard was freaking HUGE, and didn't want to die. We (he) sprayed it with roach spray (it kills spiders pretty well too), this bastard ran at us! I yelped like some milk-coloured maiden and hid behind him, as the monster spider came right at us, refusing to die. Hubby kept spraying and finally I couldn't breath.

I started heaving. Hubby helped propel me from the bathtub and I sprinted to the other side of the house, trying not to cough or toss my ice cream. Luckily I lasted long enough to kneel down at the other toilet, where I deposited everything we indulged in for the past 2 days.

Spider vanquished, Hubby came into our bedroom and we settled down into bed. He was pissed though, and all the happy vibes of the past 2 days has evaporated like water in a parched desert.

Yesterday wasn't too bad. I could tell he was trying to be pleasant. We stopped by Home Depot, Dairy Queen, and even CVS. For various stuff, food, and Peppermint Oil. We found everything other than the Peppermint Oil. Lounged for the day, and even went out to Dairy Queen again for dinner. (It was gooooood.) Hubby moved some boxes around and we worked together decorating our room a bit more.

Today is going pretty well, so far. I slept in pretty late, we went to a health food store looking for Peppermint Oil and struck out. Went grocery shopping. Swung by the house to drop off the food and then swung back out to go eat breakfast in a Italian restaurant that I love.

He wasn't thrilled with his chicken Parmesan sub, but my Stromboli was the shiznet! He was pleased with the fried ice cream though. Right now he's taking a nap, and we're waiting for Seimi and Zuri to join us for a D&D game. It's thundering outside and all my kitty babies are lounging around. Nice and relaxing.

I'm a year older, but a year younger that initially thought. Here's to another year of love & life!

And yes, that is my husband's chest hair in the lower right of the picture.

Chocolate Talk

Okay, so I like chocolate. It helps curb a craving for sweets, easily, duh. More importantly it helps when I get migraines. The kind that knocks me out in bed with a pillow over my head praying for it to go away.

White chocolate doesn't help, cause it's not really chocolate.

But milk and dark chocolate does the thing and makes the migraines a little less painful.

So....

A year or so ago I noticed some commercials about Brookside Chocolates and was intrigued.

They look good, right? I thought so. So I followed them on Facebook, hoping for a givaway, no luck, they don't seem to give away their products. Then I hunted through stores looking for the bags of goodies.

And was appalled.

At CVS, three months ago I stopped, literally, in the middle of the store and said. "No fucking way." The damn tiny bags were $5.99. EACH! Granted it's 7 ounces of chocolate in there, but $5.99 + tax for a small bag of chocolate that I didn't even know if I liked was out of the question. I bitched to Hubby (who was in the store with me) about the price the entire time.

Pretty pissed and I started to disdane this company for their apparent stingy-ness.

Well then, last week while I was grocery shopping for the second time (all by myself, go me!) I saw the little over-priced bags of taunting chocolates.

And they were on sale!

2 bags for $4!

$2 a bag, yeah I can do that. $2 is not too much to try something new and might not like.

To make it even better there were 2 different flavours.

Welp, I plopped one bag of pomegranate and another of acai into my cart and finished up grocery shopping.

First up:

 The initial impression was, literally, "Meh". Nothing exciting, nothing special, nothing to write home about. That was only 1 chocolate ball, but I ate a few more, and surprisingly the pomegranate sweetness started to shine through. About 5 balls in my mouth at one time (sounds so wrong) was the perfect amount to fully enjoy the flavour.

Will I spend $6 on a single bag? No fucking way, but I might pick up a bag in 6 months if I see it in a 2 for $4 sale again.

Next up:

Initial impression was; "Not bad." Still not exciting, but the blueberry taste came through right away.Unfortunately the more I ate, the bitter-er everything tasted. Probably good for portion control but not a good selling point on my end.

Will I spend $6 on a single bag? No, but again if it's in the 2 for $4 deal I'll pick it up.

Overall it's not bad chocolate, but for a "high end" chocolate as it markets itself to be, it's all fluff and bull.

I'd love to have all 3 chocolates in 3 separate bowls, sharing while I play D&D, sharing some sparkling fruit juices, in a foreign land. Kinda a scene setter. But I won't cry if it doesn't ever happen.

I would like to try the Gogi one, maybe that holds the "wow" factor I'm missing in these 2.

*

I wasn't compensated by Brookside, or even approached to review their products. It was all done cause I was curious.

Mow, mow, mow your boat...

Yup, mow, not row.

As in mowing the yard.

I can honestly say that I missed it, and I can honestly say that I didn't expect to be so exhausted after doing it. I didn't even get to the weed wacker yet! Screw that till Wednesday.

They entire property is 90% mowed. The only place I avoided was the dog pen. Mainly cause there is a rake lying in front of it and I was to lazy to move it.

The ride-on mower is fun. Not a horse but probably as close as I'll get to one in a while.

So, now that that's done, I'm going to tackle the laundry later today, and paint some of my sculptures. I'll eventually figure out what to eat. Here's a pic of some of the ones that are all finished up!

Hot

It's sooooooo hot, even overcast and windy. The AC is still broken, buuuut Hubby called and someone should be over at 6p.m. (about a half hour). I know it's an electrical problem, so I'm hoping that whoever comes doesn't try to give me any overblown bullshit.

The kitties are hot. They show it. Although they are so cute making an effort to be hot close to me. 

I'm happy to say that I do have some sculpture stock for Elvenspun finished up, awaiting sealant. Tonight I'm going to finish up painting what's left and then work on some new sculptures. It's still raining outside so no trying out the can of sealant yet.

Daddy and his fiance are on day 2 of their car drive to Minnesota. Nothing to report yet so I'm gonna assume that it's going well.  

Daddy's last day in Florida

Well, like the title says, today's Daddy's last day in Florida before he does some last minute stuff, and drives off with his fiance tomorrow.

Everyone except Hubby and my family members that are deployed came over and we went to dinner, at a GOOD Italian restaurant. Poor Hubby had to work. Diner was nice, food was amazingballs, and Daddy looked happy sitting next to his new squeeze.

He did look very serious from time to time, trying to make sure he's remembering to pack everything he needs, and wouldn't ya know it, the AC broke. He wanted to see if he could fix it before he left. I'm sure he's also a little worried that he's up and leaving everything. It's gonna be a big change for him, but he'll survive.

I haven't seen him this happy with someone since I was little, with Mom, before all the bad stuff happened. I'm so glad for him. And her too! She and I had some 1-on-1 time on a trip to Wal-Mart, I can say 100% we're totally in synch and should never ever be left in a store together. Not ever. We'd never come out. Or we'd come out but ass broke.

I wish I had pictures to share, but Daddy's fiance has them on her camera. I'll share them soon as she shares with me.

I'm gonna miss my Daddy being around, but as long as he's happy, that's all that matters.

P.S. He couldn't fix the AC, so I have to call to get it fixed Friday. Booo! At least he has a window unit that we'll install in the morning. >.<

Settling in

Welp, as of 5pm yesterday we no longer live in the apartment. Hubby and I finished up all the little things, threw them into the cars, and drove down to the house.

Hubby is still overstressed beyond belief. I suppose it will just take time.

I'm kinda settling into cleaning things up, making sure dishes are done, kitties are all taken care of, housey stuff, all while rushing to finish up Daddy's engagement present. I still need clear sealant, he might have something in the house that I can use. Hope so.

I'm proud to say I passed up a can of Coke as breakfast this morning and instead had water. Though I foresee at least 1 can being drunk sometime today.

Daddy and I spent some quality time together while I was painting his present.

He is starting to annoy me. First he said Hubby and I would be able to move into his room after he left, then he changed his mind, then changed it back again, and now it's back to a no. NOW he says his fiance can make the decision. Freaking A! We're moving into the master bedroom whatever happens, he won't be here and there's no way in hell I'm staying in a old room that smells like nasty old hockey equipment.

Speaking of which I need to go email his fiance!