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"SPEAK YOUR MIND AND RIDE A FAST HORSE"

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

CAN WE GO HOME NOW????

I have mentioned on previous posts that I have been working on Hubby's tax info. As background for some of you, he has his own small construction company. His original plan, when we came to Arkansas 7 1/2 years ago (eeep) was to start a construction company, build it up, sell it and we would return HOME to Alaska. At that time he figured it would take about 2 years. So, we packed up all his tools and equipment on his flat bed truck, loaded the motorhome and headed for Arkansas in August of 2003. {side note....Morg@n Stanley had lost most of our retirement funds for us and this was his "fix" for that)

He did really well, but things took a bit of a different turn than I expected. Anyways, after a year and a half of living in the motorhome I finally told him that he had to "shit or get off the pot". It was my hope that he would 'get off the pot' and we would just go home! But NoOoOoO.......He decided to take a dump! Told me to start looking for a house. The one time in allllll these years I stand up to him and it back fired!

After searching and searching and spending all my spare time driving around the country side looking at houses (wish I'd had my iPhone with the GPS then!)I finally found this one and it was perfect!Out of town, but not too far. 5 acres, with lots of room for the horses he has always wanted. And a nice, well built, well laid out home......so. Here we are. Sold our dream home in Alaska (that we planned and waited so many years to build....sigh) and bought this place. Am I happy? Not usually, but most days I try to make the best of it. I miss my Terri and the kids SOOOO much! And I miss Alaska and the unique and awesome lifestyle. And I miss my friends. {Don't even need to get into missing the 70 degree summers and how I hate 100 plus with dripping humidity} Don't get me wrong. Chuck misses Terri and the kids, too. A lot. Alaska, not so much (the dork), but he calls himself a "realist" and this is the way it has to be. What he thinks is the right thing for us. OK.

Anyway, Hubby is happy. Doing what he loves and he is very successful and has a great business and a terrific reputation. He's all hands on but has 2 people working full time and a couple of part timers come and go. We are surviving nicely, in these bad economic times and are VERY fortunate!

So, back to our tax info. I was totaling up everything and when I was done, I turned to him and said, "OMG! You grossed over $237,000. last year!!" He said, "Holy crap! That's almost a 1/4 of a million dollars!". I got up, walked over to him, put my arms around his neck, looked into his eyes and quietly asked........."can we go home now?". The SOB laughed. But only until I wapped him upside the head!

I tried. What can I say? Never hurts to ask.

I do have to say that he is pretty amazing. He is 70, going on 50, I'd say. High energy,{pain in the ass}, hard working,{superior attitude} ambitious,{BIG ego}, healthy, generous {show off}......we are very fortunate, indeed. Gotta take the bad with the good and just let it go.........LOL

But seriously. 1/4 of a million dollars! The 1st year {2004} he did about $89,000. I think. It's been growing ever since, but then so does the overhead. Hell, just his materials this year came to almost $100,000., sub-contractors were $80,000, payroll, equipment, maintenance, vehicles, hay and horse feed! There's no end to it! So, yes....while we are pretty comfortable, his gross is NOT what we live on! I wish!! I'd be flying to Alaska every month!!

We've had some rough times since coming here. Things that put a huge wedge between us, when for over 30 years we had what I thought was the "perfect relationship". Things that made me resent him.....that I may or may not be 'over'. My Mom died in a damn Assisted Living home before I could get her down here (if she could have even made the trip). He put me in a precarious situation that turned around and bit him squarely in the ass, but I'm the one that suffered for it. Went thru the whole I filed for divorce thing and survived that, but the aftermath has been rough. I think my surgery was a big turning point for us and although our relationship is very different than it was, it's pretty darn good right now! Guess that's a story for another day......maybe.

Monday, January 24, 2011

PURPLE HAIR


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Originally uploaded by YankeeChick

There was some mention of purple hair over at K-Lo's blog today and a couple people seem to think "why would anyone want purple hair?" This is why! It's purty. And it's fun and I get compliments everyday! Probably because I have balls enough to do it, more than anything. Hahahaha

That's all..............just wanted to share my purple chunks :). Carry on!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

BOONDOCK SAINTS DAY

Ahhhh.....the Boondock Saints! Where to start...

First, I will say right up front that some of you dear friends of mine will be appalled that I love these movies, these boys and what they are all about. There are serious guns involved and some very creative and down right delightful killings that go on in these movies. The MacManus Brothers are Irish Vigilantes and they kill incredibly vile and perverted and disgusting sinners, of the most horrendous kind!

My very own sweet little Irish Lass, Riley, introduced me to these movies while she was here this past summer. She had been telling me about them for AGES and couldn't wait to share them with me. One of the best things about getting together with my Riley is that we always stay up after everyone else has gone to bed, and she shares her favorite movies with me. We stay up into the wee hours eating chocolates and popcorn and chips, drinking coffee or Pepsi and Diet Vanilla Coke, curled up under a cozy afghan together sharing her beloved movies. She prepares me for the ultimate scenes, so that I don't blink and miss something! And she recites lines right along with the characters. I love it more than I can tell you! It has become our ritual and main plan of events in planning our visits with each other. The most amazing thing to me is that my 18 year old grand-daughter still considers me her best friend and likes to cuddle on the couch and watch movies and do fun stuff together. And we can also sit and drool over the same guys! Weeeeeeee!!!!

Okay, so back to Boondock Saints! Riley and Terri bestowed upon me the most awesome of Christmas gifts by sending me the movies. The Boondock Saints and Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. And tonight I am going to officially introduce Chuck to these awesome movies! Riley and I watched each of them about 4 or 5 times, but I haven't seen enough. They are on my list of movies that I could watch over and over and over (along with all the Die Hard movies and Indian Jones, to mention a couple from my rather short list).

The movies are full of amazing music and I have put my favorite on my side bar, along with the "Prayer" they recite prior to shooting their victim. I love to have this playing when I am doing certain things at my computer and the best part is, it makes me feel like my Muffin Girl (Riley) is right here with me. The fun part is, Murphy LOVES it! When ever I play it, she comes running from where ever in the house she is; jumps up onto my computer desk and enjoys it with me. And well she should, since I named her for my favorite MacManus brother :)

This COULD lead me into how terribly I miss her....and Terri and Maggie, Emily, Timmy and Xander-Man. How my heart aches for them sometimes......most times. The light in my heart flickers so low, so often. It literally pains me to not be a daily part of their lives, as I once was. But things change. That is life. Shit happens, blah blah, yada, yada. I hate it.

BUT! Little things like the love of movies and music shared, fan the flicker into a flame and make it okay....for awhile.

Friday, January 21, 2011

DOUBLE DAMN THE GEEK SQUAD

The continuing saga with my PC is not pretty. I took it back in to the Geek Squad on Tuesday. They plugged it in, got one of their techs to come out and look at it. He fiddled around for a few seconds and it was up and running! So, I loaded it up and brought it home, got it all set up and turned it on. Of course I was expecting to have to reinstall all of my software and restore my backed up stuff, but strangely enough, it was all there! I was confused. How could they have gotten rid of my Corrupted OS without doing a complete system restore?! I proceeded to tend to the things that had been changed, and got online and so forth. I was rolling merrily along when after about 2 hours.....it froze. I waited. and waited. and waited. After about 1/2 an hour it took off again only to freeze up about 15 minutes later. Needless to say, I was not happy....AT all!

Wednesday I was back on the phone to the Ol' Geeks to find out WTF was up. This time I was told that, yes my paperwork said that my OS was corrupted and that they had called me and I had given the approval to do a system restore. It did not indicate that it was actually done, however. BUT....if I brought it right back in, they would put me at the front of the line and it would get taken care of right away. I was NOT at all pleased at the thought of once again unhooking everything and lugging this big old thing in a 3rd time! So I stewed on it for the rest of the day and decided that I would just go ahead and do the damn restore myself! And I did and I'm still working on getting things reinstalled and all that jazz, but it's coming along nicely. I sure as hell didn't need them to do that! I've done it a few times through the years and it's easy enough to do.....just a lot of work afterward, but hey! I got nothing but time.

I do believe I will be writing a letter to the Head Geek, however, and letting them know how much I appreciate their great service. (insert severe sarcastic tone)

We did get a nice little storm, starting our with a base coat of freezing rain, covered shortly thereafter with 4-5 inches of snow. Schools and many, many businesses closed yesterday and today, but I'm sure all will be back to quasi normal tomorrow.

My sweet Susie had her 21st birthday yesterday. Extra carrots and oats for everyone!! She's one amazing horse for her age :)

And that's all for tonight. Bitching one last time about the Geeks has tired me all out so I'm gonna drag my sorry butt to bed. TTFN

Monday, January 17, 2011

GEEK SQUAD, BE DAMNED

So, I went to Best Buy Saturday afternoon to pick up my PC. I was all excited to get it and start reinstalling stuff and ready to Rock n Roll!! That wasn't to be the case, however. Got it home, lugged it in the house, got it all hooked up, turned it on and got zilch. I mean, it went thru some of the gibberish that flashes on the screen before it finally takes off and opens Windows, but then it stopped. On a foreign black screen that said "Starting Windows" at the bottom of the screen. But it wasn't starting Windows. It really wasn't doing anything. It just sat there. I was patient for awhile. At least for ME, I was patient. I typically reserve what little patience I possess for my Grandbabies and the elderly, but I mustered up some for my beloved PC. I seriously waited about 30 minutes and then I was on the phone. The Geek Gal had me shut it down and restart it. Same thing. She then pulled all my paperwork and checked it out, telling me that it 'should be working fine'. I asked her if they even reinstalled the OS and she said they 'should have'. She then told me I needed to bring it back in. sigh..... I decided I'd take it back the next day..Sunday...yesterday, but yesterday I wasn't feeling too good and it didn't happen. Today, I don't have my 'Ho, so it won't happen until tomorrow. UGH! Someone better look at it while I'm there and it better be a quick 'fix' cuz if I can't bring it back home with me, things might get ugly! Just sayin'.

My Tahoe is in the shop getting a spiffy new windshield today. Chuck drove it last Saturday when we had our little snow storm and while he was out and about, a stone hit the windshield and before he got home, it just went ahead and cracked all the way across. In Alaska, cracked windshields are a way of life, for various reasons, and they usually have to get pretty bad before anyone bothers replacing them. It doesn't take much to make me homesick, as most of you know, so the cracked windshield was guilty of invoking those feelings. Chuck's reaction to that was to get an appointment right away to get it replaced. LOL

So, here I am. Sitting home. No truck. No errands. Perfect day to be putzing around with my PC, but noOoOoOOO. Ah, well. Plenty of other stuff to do.

Friday, January 14, 2011

A Whole Week!

My, how time does fly! Can't believe it's been a week since my last post, and I was doing so good!

I have been quite busy and actually productive this week, however. I found a very user friendly bookkeeping program to use and have been setting that up and entering all the payroll data for 2010 in it so that I could have accurate reports to give the Accountant for the W-2s. And since Data Entry is my middle name, I enjoyed putting it all in and it went very quickly. You see, I do everything 'by hand', or have up until now. Payroll was no sweat when he just had one employee, but this year he had several, because some didn't work out and because he has needed more than one man to keep up with all the work he's had.

Luckily, he uses his checking account for EVERYthing and in the past I could just upload his bank statements to Quicken, go thru and categorize everything and be done with it. But what with my surgery and all, I fell off the wagon with that so I am now going thru the check registers and making lists. I don't mind. I'm just really excited that I have something in place for 2011 that I will enjoy doing, rather than dreading it {thereby grossly procrastinating!} As soon as I get my PC back, I'll get started importing our bank info and get that puppy rolling!

And speaking of my PC, the Geek Squad called yesterday. Told me that my problem was that my Operating System was corrupt. So, #1, my warranty doesn't cover it and #2 it'll be $130 to repair, but it's like a $1200 unit that I've only had 1 1/2 years, so that's worth it. So....most likely a virus got thru somehow, and I'm pretty sure it was one that was in a message that I opened in FaceBook. Even the best anti-virus program can't catch everything. In fact this happened to me about 9 or 10 years ago and apparently that virus was sophisticated enough to turn off my anti-virus and let itself right in! Anyway, it's ready and I'll get that back tomorrow. One good thing about taking it in is that at least it got a good cleaning and a thorough diagnostic check on everything. Of course I DO still have the daunting task of spending hours re-installing software and restoring all my backed up data. hours and days..........groan.....

My most recent "Murphy Report" is not a good one. I sat right here and watched as the crazy critter tried to leap over top of a 4' tall plant stand, which is home to 4 African Violets, in an attempt to get to the upper window sill right behind it! 2 replacement pots and 4 repottings later, she is still on my shitlist! For all of her crazy antics, she really hasn't done much damage...yet....and although my Violets are not looking very chipper, I'm sure they'll survive.

I guess that's all the excitement I have to report for today. Maybe I'll do better tomorrow :)

Friday, January 7, 2011

What'll She Get Into Next???

Okay.....so Murphy likes to carry stuff around. I first noticed it when I saw her jump down from my sewing machine table and a minute later heard a 'clunk' from the dining room. Upon investigation, I found that she had picked up and carried off a small pair of scissors. Since then, she has graduated to my big sewing scissors, plucked a ring off my dresser, carried off post it notes and memo pads, as well as envelopes (the kind with important stuff inside!). She dragged a tote bag (with candles in it) from the sewing room, down the steps to the living room! She even managed to turn on the faucet at the kitchen sink one day. I rather suspect that was an 'accident', as it hasn't happened since and considering how much she loves water, she would do it again if she truly knew how.

So, I ask you......how does one 'cat proof' such items?? Yes, yes, Chuck! I know!! Put my scissors away, jewelry in my jewelry boxes, etc, etc. But what's next? Can't put everything away! This cat just gets more interesting {and challenging} every day. But her entertainment value is priceless!!

My PC is finally in the hands of the Geek Squad. I sure hope it's an easy fix and doesn't take them too long! Actually, I don't care what the problem is, as long as it's covered by my warranty :).

It was really hard to walk into Best Buy with it today and leave without looking around. So many toys and toy accessories! Too much fun stuff under one roof. I didn't dare avert my eyes from the front door as I was making my way back out.

Well, that's about it for today. I AM feeling some better today, which means I've had to start working on Chuck's paperwork for the business to get to the Accountant. I hate this stuff and if any of you knew what sort of bookkeeping system I have (as in NONE) you would groan at the stupidity of it all. Once I get my PC back, all that will change, because there has to be an easy peasy way to do all of this that even I can do, with out the aid of megabucks software!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Revolting Development #2

This isn't exactly what I had in mind for my RD entries, but it's pretty revolting, none the less.

I, once again, have another bout of Bronchitis and a sinus infection. It hit me hard on Sunday as we were taking down the X-Mas tree and decorations. Considering my allergies to all things green and outdoorsy, I assumed it was my allergies flaring up from rustling around in the X-Mas tree, but by Monday I knew better and Tuesday, it was off to the DR. So I have caught it quicker this time than I did in October, when I spent 2 weeks convinced that it was allergies before I gave in and went to see the DR. I've been pretty miserable the last 2 days, but I just know that today will be better.....damn it!!

And my poor sick PC is still sitting in the back seat of my Tahoe {buckled in, of course} waiting to go visit DR. Geek Squad. I have spent about a week screwing around with that, trying to get it running right when Tuesday AM I finally got on line with the Geek Squad (with whom I have a Protection Plan). The guy did the old 'remote access' thing, found a couple of things that 'concerned' him and told me to take it in. I had planned to do that before or after my DR appt, but that didn't happen. Maybe today.

So there, in a nut shell, are my 2 RDs.

On a lighter note, my kitty, Murphy, squeaks in her sleep

I'm not sure if that means she is dreaming of chasing mice in the garage or if she has a little kitty tummy ache. I guess I'll never know.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Revolting Developments

One of my Mom's favorite expressions that was suitable for numerous and a wide variety of occurrences, was "Now isn't that a revolting development!?" or some similar context of the phrase. Having grown up, hearing that all of my life, it often slips into my vocabulary as well. I was just thinking of something that happened New Years Eve that fell into that category and have decided to make it a regular theme in my blog. The occasional Revolting Development! Yeah.... I like it :)

The way things go for me, they will all most likely be more of a series of Unfortunate Events, but I'll stick with "RD" {revolting Developments} in honor of my Mom. Even tho' I'm pretty sure that she thought blogging could be a life threatening past time {and on occasion, I would have to agree with her}, I still think it would tickle her that I am using it.

The 1st RD that I shall write about will actually be my last RD of 2010, since it occurred on New Years Eve.

In all of our 40 plus years together, Chuck and I have only gone out on New Years Eve once. And that was about......40 years ago! This year my BFF, Victoria, conned us really wanted us to attend the New Years Eve party at the Elks Club {she is the Exalted Ruler, BTW}. So Chuck bought tickets and that included a catered diner and hors d'oeuvres, 2 champagne toasts, a band and breakfast. We hadn't planned on staying until midnight, but we did. The evening went fairly quickly.

The band was a really good one. They mostly play Blues, of which I am not a big fan but they were good. I found myself wanting to dance. Alot of the members dance and it was fun to watch, but I wanted to play, too! Chuck and I used to dance all the time, but it's been years. Chuck really is a good dancer and slow dancing with him isn't necessarily "slow". Anyway, most of you know that I still have my limitations since my surgery, as far as the use of my legs under certain circumstances, so I wasn't sure I could do it, but I wanted to try!

I need to interject that another "first" of the evening was the wearing of heels, which I haven't worn for well over 2 years (but used to all the time). So, here we are on the dance floor and I'm not doing so well. There was just enough of a twisting motion that it bothered my lower back and legs. I figured I'd kick my shoes off and see if that helped because, quite honestly, I never ever used to dance at all with my shoes on. {panty hosed feet slide much more easily on a dance floor, LOL}. So I ran over to our table, kicked my shoes off and went back to Chuck to resume my position.........and that's when it hit me! My final Revolting Development of 2010!! When he took me in his arms, I was looking directly into his shoulder. Not OVER his shoulder, like I used. Not with my cheek resting on his shoulder, like I used to.....but rather right into his shoulder! I almost had a melt down, but managed to get a grip.

You see, Chuck is 5'10" and I USED to be 5'8". Because of the deterioration and surgery on my back, I am now 5'4 1/2". I tend to forget that on the average day but has a very rude reminder that night!! Now THAT'S what I call a Revolting Development!!!

Once I got over the shock of my new dancing position, I tried to become accustomed to it and we actually danced several times. I was hurting a bit after the 1st time, but was determined to keep trying. I was pretty much using muscles in areas and ways that I have not used for awhile, so I kept dancing. And yeah, I could barely walk the next day and yesterday but I've GOT to do this stuff! As long as I can make myself do it and can keep doing it, then I will! It's just what I need to do!

I also need to get going back to the Wellness Center and exercising on the machines I was using there because I am not using the muscles or strengthening my legs if I don't.

So, there you have it. The 1st in a series of Revolting Developments :)

Saturday, January 1, 2011

START THE NEW YEAR RIGHT!

I'm going to start the New Year off right......by being ME. I have had a few people tell me that they miss the way I used to write in my blog. Well, so do I! I used to love blogging. Writing and reading the blogs of others. During the past couple of years, there have been some incidents that have severely changed all that for me.

At one time, I had quite a few pretty darn good blog buddies and I enjoyed them all immensely. That list has seriously dwindled and there are so many reasons for it. Wrong reasons, and that's just sad.

Some have just quit blogging and I really miss the interaction and daily happenings in their lives. Out of those folks, some of us stay in touch on FaceBook and via email and texting. That's a good thing.

Some of them have been judgmental (even tho' they deny it) and have simply dropped me because they don't like the way I 'tell it like I see it'. I typically tend to be pretty outspoken when I feel strongly about something. That's just me and if someone doesn't like it, they have only to turn away. It's not necessary to send me scathing emails or to tear me to shreds in their own blog. Just go away and maybe ASK me to do the same. I will respect that.

Back before I had met any bloggers in person, I let myself get sucked in by some folks that led me to believe that we were 'real friends'. I have no idea what their agenda was at the time, but I am gullible enough to let that happen from time to time and as a result, I got involved in a major "rescue/flame war" that cost me many friends in the blogging community. But at the time, I thought I was doing the right thing and I thought I was being a good friend to someone that needed me. What a joke THAT all turned out to be. And how quickly they forget. A very dear friend and I BOTH got our feathers burned over that ridiculous scenario, but hey! We did what we thought was right at the time and it sadly turned around and bit us in the ass.

Another time, I had the opportunity to meet some folks in 3D. I found out that one can NOT always tell what a person is really like from reading a daily blog for several years. When you meet some people in person, you can find yourself thinking "holy crap! If I had to work with this person, I'd have to find another job! I couldn't do it." Or, "man, if this person was my neighbor, I'd have to put up a 10 foot privacy fence and hope it would be enough to keep them out cuz they drive me batty!". And I am well aware and well informed that I, myself, had a similar effect on other people. Heh. I have to laugh because the whole time, I thought all was well with a couple of these people, when in fact I was apparently getting on their nerves. Hahahahaha. That pleases me NOW. Right down to my rotten core.

It takes me awhile to get to know someone well enough to be 'comfortable' with them. Either online or in person. But when you think you are at that comfort level from an online relationship, but find 'warning signals' going off when you meet in person.....just don't bother wasting your time trying too hard to make it 'work', cuz the joke will be on you!

BUT!! The fact of the matter IS, we are all adults and as amazing as it may seen to some people.......it's okay if we meet and just can not be best friends to the end! It's okay. I don't like you after all, so let's just get on with it and get over it. No need to be nasty, just walk away. Kinda like a blind date, ya know?

BUT!!!! It's TOTALLY awesome when you DO meet someone that you have been blog buddies with for years and they ARE all that and a bag of chips!!! They are out there, people and I have met a couple that have warmed my heart and changed my life and I wouldn't trade them for the world! From the time we first met, it was like we had always known each other and from there it only got better!

One of them is so different from me in so many ways, I was afraid I would be grossly intimidated when I met her. Wondrously, there are so many levels to so many people, that we immediately found our niche; blended and settled in for one of those 'forever' friend relationships that will only get better as time goes by. My word! We disagree SO vehemently on some things, it is simply amazing. But we have so much respect for each other and so much other great stuff to share, that it matters not one little bit!! That's a real friend, folks!

Boy, there is one out there that I used to adore! I thought she was the greatest and bravest most out going, honest and true person I had ever encountered! Through the years I came to find out that if you don't walk like her, talk like her and wipe your ass like her......well then, you are just wrong, Wrong, WRONG! She has gotten in my face a few times because of my opinions and 'outspoken-ness'....ahem...and we mended fences, but the last time I set her off, she went balls to the wall ballistic on me and I decided (with the help of another one of her victims) to just leave it alone. To her I say, 'what ever blows your shirt up, bitch. go for it'.

Sometimes it seems like there is no end to it. Sometimes it's just that some people can't let go. Me??? I am trying to just let it go. There are more important things for me to stress over. Now if some of these other people would get a life, quit visiting my blog whilst blocking their IP (like who gives a flying f%$#) and just leave us folks alone they might find that they too have more important things to stress over.

I am hoping that as the New Year rolls in, I will find my blogging Mojo once again and begin to once again write more things of interest! Goodnight all y'all!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Original title, eh?  LOL  I do hope you all have a wonderful 2011.  I had fully intended to get one more post in for last year, but as my luck would have it my PC is having issues.  Even tho' I have my trusty laptop, I have been spending countless hours installing, uninstalling, researching, chatting with tech support and generally trying not to pull my lovely purple hair out over it all! 

Hopefully TODAY I can get finished with it.  I'm pretty sure that a virus or something got past my Best of the Best that Norton has to offer software.  At least that's what it acts like.  Norton did detect some serious stuff and fixed it, but even after that and multiple full system scans, the PC is still 'freezing' up and acting FUNky!  I actually decided to just forget the fact that I had only a month ago, spent about $100 renewing my Norton subscriptions for the 100dth time (as I've used Norton for years) and uninstalled it all and am trying Kaspersky on my PC and AVG on my laptop.  So far the laptop is finding AVG agreeable, but since I'm still working on the PC I can't really say about Kaspersky yet except that it did find some stuff that Norton apparently missed.  But, as we speak I am running Kaspersky's Virus Removal Tool and am anxious to see if that does the trick!!  Wish me luck. 

Man, I had all sorts of things I was gonna write about and I'll probably forget half of it.  Let's see.......

Oh yes!  Murphy is a water kitty.  I did post pictures of her playing in the trickle of water at the kitchen sink, but it has gotten worse than that!  We have to be sure to keep the toilet seat lid down and that's all I'm gonna say about that!  But now she will actually get IN the shower with us to drink and play in the water and has NO problem getting all soaking wet!  Up until a week ago, she would just get in and play in the water after one of us would get out, but now.......she just gets in with us!  Funniest damn cat I ever had!  Puss Puss wouldn't even walk on the porch after it rained.  If she got one little paw wet, she had a little kitty panic attack!  Hahaha.  That was pretty damn cute, too!

AND.........Murphy is an awesome mouser!  She loves to go out into the garage and into the crawl space under the house (which is accessed from the garage) and every time she does, she brings us a prize.  GOOD kitty!! :)

OMG!!!!!!  I am forgetting that I haven't posted since X-Mas and have not gotten to show off my gift from Chuck!  He finally got me something that I have been wanting since about 1984!  Just guessing....it's been a long ass time I've been wanting a RUBY RING!!!!!!!!!
It is SOOOO beautious! Rubys and Diamonds......yum! So, I have myself a new wedding ring and will be having my original one resized to wear on my middle finger next to the Ruby. My friend, Debbie, was instrumental in orchestrating the whole thing and I owe her my eternal gratitude. Hee hee.