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My dad has a sweet, little black cat named Marty. He was allowed to keep this cat, which he found as a starving kitten along the side of the road leading to their property, as long as he would agree that Marty would be an outdoor cat.

Let’s just say that Marty is barely skimming the edges of being an outdoor cat. Barely.

My dad lets him in to eat. He lets him in to drink water. He lets him in to get pet and wander around every so often. At night, dad puts Marty in the garage, supposedly so the foxes won’t eat him. Marty has a cat condo in the garage, and toys and access to canned food. He is more comfortable than most cats I can think of right now.

I’m allergic to cats, so I can attest that Marty is outside enough to keep the house pretty much dander free. So, perhaps we can slide on over and call Marty an outdoor cat. But, yes, just barely.

I miss being in the same house as someone who is handy around the house. My ex was a total loss when it came to even the simplest household repairs and yard tasks. I did as much as I could on my own, but my own skills are limited to gardening and decorating.

I’ve been at my dad’s house near Washington. DC for the last week and it has been fun to just poke around in his work room off of the garage. He has all sorts of air tools and gadgets. He even has this little wall where he has nailed baby food jar lids to pegboard, so he can just screw the jars onto the lids and they will be all nicely stored up on the wall. He puts nails and screws and little things in those jars, all neatly sorted. He actually used to use that trick when I was growing up, as well.

I have to keep reminding myself that the next time I get married (IF I choose to even bother), I want that man to be handy around the house.

I turned my Dad onto Freecycle a couple of years ago. Though I have slacked off on checking for new messages over the past year or so, it appears Dad is still in full swing., He and his wife keep the PC in their office up all day with a window open for the Yahoo e-mail address they use exclusively for Freecycle. They check for new messages often.

I’m proud of him, though. Instead of just looking for what kinds of things he can acquire, he reads each and every Wanted message to see if there is something he has that someone else wants. It looks like he gives away more than he asks for. THAT is your ideal Freecycle member.

I have taken to sitting down and checking the messages while I am here. I have seen posts offering used cisco, boxes of books, yard equipment, and clothing. I replied to a woman who lives right down the road and was offering a paper sack full of old Scrabble tiles, but I have not heard back. I assume someone else asked first. Those tiles would have been an invaluable tool for teaching reading in the classroom.

…man. Now I am thinking about the classroom and the hiring freezing going on in the counties around me and the fact that I need to find a job this summer. Way to put a damper on my own vacation. *sigh*

I had never been to one of the Gymboree outlet stores until we went today to the location at the Leesburg Corners outlet mall. So, I really had no idea what the Gymboree outlets were all about. I guess I assumed they would simply have older lines comprised of surplus pieces. I assumed the prices woud be lower.

For the most part, I was wrong. The lines are older, though. In fact, the girl working there told me they are exactly one year behind the retail stores when it comes to which lines they carry. However, the clothing is not surplus or extra. The company actually keeps making the year-old lines for the outlet stores, complete with a unique label system. They even sometimes change the pieces a little, perhaps offering a different color t-shirt to go with a line, for example.

I found the clothing pretty close to the retail end in pricing. I was specifically looking for bike shorts for my daughter to wear under her dresses for kindergarten this fall. I thought they would be up to their eyeballs in bike shorts, since at the retail stores the bike shorts in any given line are usually still there in gobs when the line goes to markdown. They only had three colors of bike shorts today. The clerk said the company just doesn’t send them many, ever.

Overall, I prefer the prices on the current lines in the retail stores — in the back of the stores on the markdown racks.

People who say they would never, ever consider cosmetic surgery are probably young.

For the record, I have never been one of those people who said I would never do it. I was always quite enamored of my nose and the shape of my face. I love the shape of my eyes and the arch of my brows. My lips are a little thin, but they look great with lipstick. It’s not that I have ever really wanted to change anything about my appearance, but now that I am a little older, I miss the youthful look my face used to have. I can see my eyelids are different and my brows are tad lower.

I’ve said more than once lately that I would like to find a minimally evasive way to do a little mini lift on my face. Or, maybe just a brow and forehead lift.

I’m not too proud to say that I would resort to a cosmetic procedure to look younger. My step-mother and I are sitting here looking at a Beverly Hills face lift site on the net right now. We’re both making our wish lists. People might say a lot of things about women who have procedures done, but when it comes down to it, not many people can truthfully admit that looking young and bright and attractive aren’t things that boost your inner confidence. Some people buy expensive shoes and bags to make themselves feel happy. I just want my pretty brow arches back.

I met Big Bird once. I was 4, maybe 5 years old. Mr. Rogers and Big Bird and a couple of other PBS characters were all at the local PBS station in DC and my patents took me and my sister.

Big Bird gave me one of the feathers off of his costume. Back then, I had no idea that a genius of a man named Kermit Love had been the one to suggest that Big Bird’s costume be designed so it would lose feathers left and right.

Kermit Love passed away at the age of 91 this past Saturday. He was the costume designers who assisted Jim Henson in the creation of Big Bird and several other Sesame Street characters, like Mr. Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster. He also designed the beloved Snuggle bear we all know from the fabric softener commercials.

His design flair was not limited to fuzzy characters though. He also designed for ballet choreographers.
If he have not read his recent book “The Wisdom of Big Bird (and the Dark Genius of Oscar the Grouch): Lessons From a Life in Feathers,” please do. It’s a worthy read.

I could talk about a million reasons that a cordless vacuum cleaner would make my life easier. Certainly, there is the fact that it would be more energy efficient. In this day and age of questionable oil dependence, saving energy anywhere I can is a plus.

But, might I also add that I am sick and tired of getting tangled up in the vacuum cord? I loathe giving it a little tug, just knowing the cord should stretch more, only to find the cord has become snagged under the leg of the recliner or is in the process of knocking over a potted plant in the living room. It’s not as annoying as trying to mow the lawn with our electric lawn mower, but it is an astonishingly close second. I know, if I run over the cord with the Dirt Devil, I am not going to slice it in two, but I have made my fair share of ungraceful falls across the dining room.

Dirt Devil has a new AccuCharge Stick Vac and a Hand Vac that not only uses 70% less energy, but also give me sweet visions of flitting around the house CORD FREE to banish the dust from my life. Well, the dust and the cookie crumbs and the sand tracked in for the yard and a host of other dirty little things. The appliances are Energy Star approved, too.

I’ve done some pretty asinine things to avoid the whole corded vacuuming thing. I sweep things into little piles before vacuuming. I clean the floorboards and along the walls by hand with a wet cloth. I go to great lengths for more than just the luxury of moving about without that cord tripping me, I am also always thinking about ways to keep our power bill low. I live in Florida, for goodness sake. We run the air conditioner more than I would like. That eats up a majority of the electric budget, so keeping other usages low is always on the back of my mind.

And, yes, no more silly pratfalls.

Flying is stressful in even the best circumstances. I get nervous easily and irritated, even, if the child in front of me is crying or a couple of tipsy businessmen are talking loudly and laughing too boisterously. There are hundreds of us enclosed in a small space and the least we can do for one another is be quiet.

When I started flying with a child, I did what I could to keep her quiet so we would not disrupt the other passengers. When she was an infant, I would nurse her for the ENTIRE flight. It was awkward, but it kept her peaceful and the seating agents were nice about making sure I was seated next to a woman.

I’m a mixed bag of opinions when I see this story about a woman and her autistic child being asked to leave an American Eagle flight in North Carolina. The article I read painted the flight crew as unsympathetic. I imagine they were feeling a lot of pressure from other passengers, though. On the flip side, the mother apparently was not keeping her son buckled in during take off and refused to allow her carry-on bag to be placed in the overhead compartment. She was seated in bulkhead, where there is not a seat in front of you to put your bag under.

While I have a lot of understanding for those who parent disabled children, I also believe you must know the limitations for yourself and your children. If your child is upset by seeing you upset, you have to make more effort than ever to never appear rattled in public. If you need to have your carry on within reach at all times, do not request a bulkhead seat. If your child cannot abide being restrained, perhaps drive or ride the train when traveling. The family in questions did say they will take the train now and I think that is a wise move.

I read some comments by other people on the original report of this story and at least one mother of another autistic child felt that the airline workers should have been specially trained to deal with disabled children and should have given special considerations. Another mother of a special needs child pointed out that the airline still needed to follow FAA rules. One personal called the motehr “entitled”.

I agree that she did seem entitled to special treatment. Many of us live with children that see the world in a unique way. I have to make special plans every time I travel. However, I would never expect it to be OK if my child disrupted other passengers or if our situation was making it impossible for FAA rules to be followed. I do not expect society to make allowances for my life.  The work-around might be difficult for me to accomplish, but it is always there if I look.

My dad lives right on the Shenandoah River in West Virginia. It has always been my favorite river, hands down, so I love visiting here. He only built the house two years ago, so this is only my second visit from Florida.

He have several very large lots that are part of some private property connected to some land a church owns so they can run a retreat center. So, back here at the end of the road it is quite peaceful.

At the mouth of the road, before you get to the retreat center, there is a campground and it is filled with large motorhomes most of the summer. It’s a coveted camping spot and there are both locals and regular travelers who come back year after year.

It’s not a bad way to spend your summer! Before my dad built his home here on the river, he had a river lot in his old hometown and he owned an awesome Gulfstream that he would put on the lot each summer. It was like a slice of paradise. His brother is looking for a motorhome now so he can bring it here to one of dad’s unused 5-acre lots on the Shenandoah and I’ve been helping him shop — which happens to be a lot of fun.

We started out by doing a lot of online “window shopping” using Rvs.com. You can look at real time inventory there and get a good idea about pricing for new and used vehicles. That set us up to be ready to go out and physically look at motorhomes.

I wish I lived closer. I would follow my uncle’s lead. Florida is indeed paradise in the winter, but I think the Shenandoah Valley holds that title in the summer

I’m visiting with my dad and his wife at his house on the Shenandoah River. Dad is retired, but his wife is not, so I often offer to do the cooking while I am here. Tonight I am just doing rosemary chicken breasts, roasted red potatoes and greens. Dessert will be fun, though. Dad handed me a recipe to “look at”, which means he wants me to make it. And so I will.

Banana Split Pie

Ingredients:
2 bananas sliced
8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
1.5 teaspoons vanilla
8 oz. Whipped Topping
8 maraschino cherries, drained
prepared graham cracker pie shell
1.5 cups powdered sugar
1 cup crushed pineapple
.5 cup chopped pecans
chocolate syrup

Preparation:

• Line the bottom and sides of prepared pie shell with sliced bananas.
• Whip the cream cheese with a blender and slowly add powdered sugar and vanilla.
• When cream cheese mixture is fluffy, stir in drained pineapple and mix well
• Fold whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture.
• Put final cream cheese mixture into the pie shell.
• Sprinkle nuts on top and then place drained cherries on top of the nuts.
• Drizzle chocolate syrup on the nearly completed pie.
• Chill for one hour before serving.

If I think about it, I will take a picture.

I’m going to make my own pie shell. It’s tastier fresh. And, I may add some real whipped cream to the top of the cream cheese mixture before topping it with cherries, nuts and chocolate syrup.

I have a lot of great vacation based memories from back when I was a kid. Only now that I have a daughter of my own do I see that the best vacations are to places that are BOTH adult and child friendly. My parents may have enjoyed out trips to the Grand Canyon, and I am sure I did as well. But to be quite honest, I do not have a whole lot of stored memories about that vacation. I was 16, but there are an awful lot of blank spots when I try to think back to it. On the other hand, our trip to Orlando happened when I was only 4, but I have more concrete memories of that trip. And, talking to my parents, it seems that they do as well.

So, although I have been excited for a long time about taking my daughter to Washington, DC (my hometown), it turns out that she did not enjoy it all that well. I spent more time trying to keep her occupied and the sights and sounds around me blended in with her whining and her complaints.

Orlando, though, that is a whole other story. We may only live an hour from Orlando, but that does not reduce its value as a memorable vacation destination for my family. My daughter is always richly involved when we go there. She is all big eyes and awe-filled sighs. She talks about the things we did at the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and even the restaurants there as though we had discovered the Holy Grail.

I will take her back to DC when she is older. By then, she will be ready to share with me the awe I feel for that city. For now, I think we will stick to Orlando for our mother-daughter special trips. (Although, when my daughter is an adult, those trips to DC might be trumped by trips to Vegas where we can take in Madame Tussauds, a couple of shows, and some of the other zillions of other things to do in Las Vegas.) There are tons of things to do in Orlando. And even when it seems like the cost of tickets are going to overwhelm me, I can usually find a good deal through Trusted Tours & Attractions. They have online travel guides as well as discounted tickets.

While I am on the topic of the Trusted Tours website, you should check them out. They are always running one promotion or another where if you sign up for their newsletter you can win a very cool gift. Right now that prize is a handheld GPS Offer. Be quick about it, though, the drawing for the GPR ends June 30th, 2008.

Most people know that as of February 17, 2009 all television stations n the United States that have been broadcasting over the air using an analog signal must convert over to a digital signal. That means that if your television has been picking up stations over the air using rooftop antennas and rabbit ears, you will probably cease to be able to see anything after that date.

A solution that does not involve subscribing to an expensive cable company is to simply buy a digital converter to receive programming. The converter box plugs into your television and you can find them at stores like RadioShack, Best Buy and Circuit City for about $50 to $80.

However, there are households where even an expenditure of $50 is a burden. Some of my readers might laugh at that notion, but a friend of mine from my daughter’s preschool is in just such a situation. That is why the U.S. government developed the Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Coupon Program.

Any U.S. household is eligible for two coupons, worth $40 each. You can use it to purchase up to two digital-to-analog converter boxes. You can apply for your coupon online, but make sure you use it as soon as you get it, since the coupons expire in 90 days.

Some boxes have more features than others, like an “analog pass-through” which allows reception for low-power stations, like some of the local stations that broadcast religious shows or public service programs. Also, if your television is older, you may find that the digital signal is still lacking. That can be remedies by purchasing a television with HDTV, or the less expensive EDTV or SDTV.

However, if you bought your TV after March 1, 2007, you’re probably OK, since U.S. law dictated that all television reception devices made in or imported into the country after that date had to have a digital tuner. But, you’ll still need the converter box.

Yep. I found a website called TheWatchery that has a unique hook when it comes to bringing back their customers. They offer a free watch with almost all of their purchases. Or, if you do not like any of the watches in the selection of free items, they’ll let you choose one from their list of watches that are priced at 80% off, so you can purchase a backup watch for close to nothing.

It’s been years since I have worn a watch. I’ve been relying on home clocks, the clock in my car and the clock on my cell phone. However, I’ll be in the classroom soon enough and will need to have access to exact time constantly, so I need to start wearing a watch again. I looked in my jewelry box and all of my old watches are not working. So, I think it is high time to treat myself to a new watch.

The watches at The Watchery are not a bunch of cheapie Asian imports either. I am talking about luxury Girard-Perregaux, Harry Winston and Blancpain, among many others. I’m in awe and in my search for gold watches, I have found all too many that I think I am in love with, honestly. I’ve always liked TAG Heuer watches and I am most drawn to the simplicity of the Aquaracer stainless steel pink mother-of-pearl watch I included in this post. It’s not gold, but it just looks so strong and feminine all at the same time. It’s all diamondy, too. I’m OK with the selection of Timberland watches you can get for free with the TAG Heuer. A girl needs an everyday watch, too.

Not only did “hedge fund manager” Sam Israel think he was smart enough to cheat people out of his money, but now the former scammer rally thinks that people are going to believe he killed himself – even after his former partner got CAUGHT for trying the same fake suicide stunt. What a brainless freak.

Writing “suicide is painless” on the hood of the car he supposedly drove to a bridge so he could plunge to his death was not much smarter. “Suicide is painless” is the title of the M*A*S*H theme song for both the television show and the movie. The M*A*S*H “suicide” was a fraud as well. And, the song itself includes many amusing lyrics when applied to the Israel case, such as:

The only way to win is cheat
And lay it down before I’m beat

Israel’s girlfriend has admitted that she helped him pack up all his belongings and a little scooter into an RV (a.k.a. gas guzzling camper) so he could dodge police with a fake suicide attempt on the day he was supposed to turn himself in for a 20-year prison sentence for defrauding investors. She also helped him get the RV to a rest stop.

He left from upstate New York. You know the creep is running around in Canada. And, unless he brought an awful lot of cash with him, he is going to eventually have to tap into an electronic account somewhere. We already know that he uses the aliases Sam Ryan and David Clapp. Surely, he uses others as well.

In the meantime, he has left behind his girlfriend, who will almost certainly go to jail for helping his sorry rear end.

They are both foolish. She is going to jail and in the end, Israel is headed right back to prison as well. On top of his regular sentence, he will have new charges added in relations with his current scam. Dork.

Will I ever finish being packed away in storage? I have a massive storage unit filled to the brim with furniture and household goods. I have that I can with me, but most of what I won is packed away. In all reality, I have moved so much over the years that I feel like I was always in some stage of unpacking. The last three times I moved, I still had boxed fully packed from prior moves.

When I can, I go through boxes and sift through my things, trying to pare down what I own. In all actuality, it’s not that much, but I certainly could not move in the night if I had to. Today I found a box of cables. I actually wanted a plain old cable TV cable so I could extend a line from the cable in my room to where I actually want to have the TV this summer (no TV in the bedroom during the school year, thank you very much). What I found was a box that quite evidently belonged to my ex husband. The first clue was the CAT5e cable on top of the pile. It must be a box left over from when he was trying to start a small business with his friend Fernando.

Should I be a sweetheart and give the box of techie stuff back to him? ( I probably won’t.)