Who's a Taurus?

Bailey is! Happy birthday today to Bailey! She looks grumpy in most of the pictures so this is the best we got.

Clean Clothes

Er... they were. Reminds me of this lolcat.

Cabinets are in! (almost)

The install work for the cabinets has nearly been completed. The last cabinet can't go in until the counters are installed. Until the counters are in, it still isn't too usable, but it looks like a kitchen again! I wish the stove was black to match the microwave, but I don't want to buy a new stove right now.

The biggest change is the new pantry cabinet. I'm not used to having anything on that wall, and it seems big enough to hold everything I had in my old cabinets! There will be a second cabinet to the left of it.

I really like the knobs, and I'm glad I went with a light paint color since the cabinets are dark.

Last but not least, the last cat was installed last night. I'm glad I only went with two of these as they take up a fair bit of room.

I Am Ungrateful for this Gift

Well folks, it's been awhile since something happened worth reporting, but now it has! I have the day off today, and I enjoyed sleeping in a little bit. I woke up at my usual time when it was still dark and then fell back to sleep. When I woke up later after the sun was up, I noticed I had been sleeping next to a dead mouse. I was horrified and ran downstairs until I could figure out what to do with it.

While I was standing in the kitchen cogitating, I look out the window and see a deer wandering around the yard. As you do.

I went back upstairs and Riley was sitting on the floor next to the bed. I worked it so I could wrap up the whole comforter, take it outside, and leave it there (the mouse, not the comforter). When I came back in, both Bailey and Riley were wandering around the bed, presumably looking for the mouse.

I guess I should be thankful it wasn't worse (like something even more disgusting) and though it is the season of thanks, I am not thankful for this gift.

Day 1: North Carolina

Since Mary Grace is still waiting for the Europe trip travelogue (and it's still on my to-do list 9 months later) I figured I'd better type up this one ASAP. As before, each day will be its own post. I may add some photos later, but I'd rather go ahead and get this posted. Here is the journal from my trip to North Carolina's Outer Banks, Shenandoah National Park, and Delaware. Why? Because I've never been to Delaware :)

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

On Tuesday morning, I awoke to find Bailey had snugly packed herself during the night and was ready to go in my suitcase. My flight to Chicago was oversold but on time. Since they were only offering the face value of your ticket as a voucher, I did not volunteer to take a later flight. (My ticket was free). My flight to Norfolk was also on time, and the only eventful thing was when the top on my water bottle popped open and started spilling on my foot and backpack. Too much pressure I guess.

As I was walking through the airport, I caught the announcement on the news that George Steinbrenner had died of a heart attack. I feel like I frequently find out people have died in the airport. But as mom pointed out, I’m frequently in airports.

I got my rental car, a blue Chevy Aveo, which probably had no idea what kind of trip it was in for, and we headed off for North Carolina. It took about 20 minutes to get to the border, and then I had my 47th state. There was no place to pull over near the sign, so I had to park and walk back and take a self portrait. It started raining as I was driving, which pretty much set the tone for my NC leg.

I made it to the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills about 5:00, which was perfect since they close at 6:00. It was hot and muggy but not raining when I got out of the car, still wearing jeans from traveling. The visitor center wasn’t much, but I walked out to the field that showed where they took off from and where each of the flights landed, including the longest one. Then I went up to the memorial, which is on a hill that’s pretty much made of sand. Once I’d seen it, it was time to head to the hotel and food.

I found my room at the Rodeway Inn in Nags Head, which was exceptionally adequate for my purposes. I had dinner and ice cream at Fatboyz next to the hotel, then walked across the street to the beach. It was cloudy but not raining and starting to cool down a little.

I walked along the beach and then watched a couple guys with metal detectors searching the sand. One started digging a pretty big hole, but I couldn’t tell if he found anything.

I made it back to my hotel room to find it so humid all my paper was curling on the edges. Luckily I was tired enough that I was able to sleep easily enough.

So far I have seen 27 state license plates and 2 Canadian provinces.

Disruptions

I am on vacation, and I did not plan to get up early today. Several forces united to thwart my plans. First, Bailey got her head caught in a plastic bag around 4:30. She proceeded to paw at the bag until I got up and freed her. I lured both of them downstairs and "let" them go play in the garage.

About 20 minutes later, after I had fallen back to sleep, the low battery alarm on the carbon monoxide detector went off. It is right next to my bed, and it beeps until you take the battery out. I don't know why that battery drains so fast, since the thing is plugged into the wall. I left it in pieces on the floor and went back to sleep.

Finally about 6:00, I woke up to find Boo (a squirrel who lives in my yard) standing on his hind legs, looking in the bedroom door, and tapping on the window. Not sure what he wanted, but at least everyone was in the garage or it would have been a wild time.

Alas, my early morning was not as restless as planned.

Happy Birthday Bailey!

While many things Bailey does have been captured on this blog, and while she often has more adventures than Riley, she rarely allows herself to be photographed during these adventures so I don't have much to share.








Nonetheless, I am one day late in recognizing Bailey's birthday, which was yesterday. Happy Birthday Bailey!

How Bailey Enjoys the Christmas Tree

Bailey uses the Christmas tree differently than I do. Her preferred way is to climb up in the tree, remove one of the branches and sit on it, as you see here. In this case she pulled down a branch with the lights still attached. You can't really tell in the picture, but the lights are on, shining right in her face.

She also likes to run from across the room and scatter the fuzzy reindeer under neath tree. I believe she has help in that activity.

Perhaps Bailey needs her own blog. I'm not sure she has quite as much to show off as Maru, my favorite cat blog. Maru is Japanese.

Escape!

This bathroom project is creating all sorts of adventures for Bailey. Last night we were outside installing the exhaust fan and I looked up and Bailey is walking around the deck. I grabbed her and sent her back inside. I couldn't believe she could have gotten out without us knowing.

Later I found out the back door and the outside door of the garage were open and she got out that way. At least she had the sense to walk up near where we were so I could seize her! Riley spent the next two hours growling, hissing, and being puffed about it.

Taking Woolly Mammoth to New Levels

We have always joked that Bailey is a woolly mammoth because of how furry she is. Today she led her band of merry siblings in an adventure that caused her to be even more woolly than usual. Today's project was to work on installing a new exhaust fan and light. Dad was up in the attic trying to get above the bathroom ceiling. I went to pick up lunch. When I came back, he was going outside to brush himself off. Then we ate lunch.


After lunch we went upstairs and Bailey was just exiting the attic porthole. A few years ago, I had 16 inches of new insulation blown in, and Bailey had about six inches of it stuck in her fur. Then I looked in the hole and Riley was still in there. I got Bailey cleaned up, but Riley didn't want to come out. Here she is back in the attic, nearly up to her neck in insulation.


Eventually she came out and I had to wash her off with a washcloth.

In other news, the bath tub is in and I can shower! I was a little nervous that we weren't going to get the tub through the door, and then I wasn't sure how we were going to get it laid down. But it worked!

Things Bailey Does

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a special feature, "Things Bailey Does."

In an effort to stop her from sleeping on the new comforter, I laid the plastic on top of it. Apparently that made it more appealing.


After tirelessly trying to open the item's clamshell packaging...

Bailey learned a lesson we have all discovered: it is impossible and it is better not to try.