Almost Forgot to Tell You

About the the new neighbors across the street....

Hmmmmm
I expect to have lots of entries dedicated to them this year. I will tag them EastSideNeighbors.

For my first entry I want you to imagine sitting on the front porch on a lovely summer day. The cross breeze is flowing through the porch and there is a glass of lemonade on the table.

Peaceful

Now look at this

The Eastsideneighbors have a cute little boy. This is his bike minus the training wheels. I can see the bike all the way to the end of the block. It is a good bike for a small kid.

Now look at this >>>>>

Okay
The two are not related, right?

Add this image

Got that?


I am going to add one more image to make sure that you understand what I am trying to convey.
Do you have all of that?

Okay, imagine me sitting on my porch. Drinking a glass of lemonade. As I place the glass on the table I look up and see......


A grown ass man wearing a wife beater and saggy sweat pants riding down the block on his kid's Hulk bike carrying 30 can box of Budweiser.

Hi everyone, I thought you might enjoy this episode from TruBluSigmas podcast. Click this link to check it out: http://trublusigma.podOmatic.com/entry/2009-06-25T23_44_07-07_00

My Life with Kittehs

It was 2:20 am when I heard the sound. It was a howl. Like a lone tiger calling for its mate in the Ohio wilderness.
Only it wasn't the wilderness, it was urban NW Ohio. It wasn't a wolf, but my housemate's overweight cat. He wasn't calling for his mate. He has been neutered.
I immediately got up. I guess it would be likened to a mother jumping out of the bed at the sound of a child crying. Yes, it is just like that.

I ran downstairs and asked Fattie, "what is wrong."
He started pacing and howling again. I followed his gaze to the windows. I searched the porch for the source of his frustration. Was there something on the porch that had upset the cat?
I found nothing.
I went back to Fattie Cat. I wondered, what could be bothering him.

Then it hit me. Where was Skinny Kitty? I hadn't seen her since mid morning.
I walked around the house. Looking for Kitty. Fattie followed me in an anxious huff. Then I heard a "thump" on the second floor. It could have only been Kitty jumping down from something. I looked for her in my closet. Nothing. In the yarn room closet. Nothing.

Then I heard her meow. She had been locked in the other roommates bedroom. OOOOOOH.
Skinny Kitty ran out when I opened the door but stopped at the top of the stairs as if to say "thank you" to Fattie Cat.
Yeah, Fattie was just sitting on the top step as I searched for Kitty.

Fattie looked at me and yowled again. Walked over to the water dish that he insists I keep maintained with fresh water. He indicated with his nose that it needed to be refilled. As he usually does.

There have been occasions where he has wakened me up from a leisurely nap to fill his dish. He will crawl under my bed and meow until I get up. Fattie will casually trot to my door, check to see if I am following him then proceed to stop at the water dish. He has trained me well. ..... Oh did I mention that his original water/food dish is kept in the basement. He seems to think that he deserves fresh water on the second floor as well as the basement.

I filled it with water from the bathroom sink. He looked at it, meowed and then looked at me again.

I sighed. He doesn't like the dish to have any cat hair in it when he drinks from it. So I cleaned the water dish before filling it yet again with fresh water. He approached it. Sniffed it and then began to drink. Skinny Kitty cautiously sauntered next to him and drank, too.

For good measure, I gave them some kitty treats before sneaking back into my bed unnoticed. It was now 2:50 am

Crafty Update

I am working on a blanket for my across the street neighbor who is having a little girl this Fall. I am using this openwork pattern with the prettiest pink yarn.

I have almost completed the shawl that I am making to cover my shoulders during the long and cold conference meetings in Charleston in two weeks. Brrrrr.

Mark my text, I will not volunteer for another traveling scarf group. The premise is easy. Start a scarf mail it to the next person. She/he adds to it and mails it on. And so on until it gets back to you. They are nerve wracking when life makes you too busy to keep up with sending/receiving. I have three scarves mocking me right now. Just sitting on my floor. Waiting for me to add 8 inches and mail them to the next person.

I expect to finish the granny square blanket this month. Wish me luck!