Allergies

So, we're doing some work on our house, namely in the basement. Guess where our CAT spends most of her time. Guess who's allergic to the furry beast.....yep, me. (My son Cameron is too!) Makes it difficult to spend much time down there, especially while stirring up dust and debris. Now, we wear masks. With my mask on, I think I look a bit like a surgeon. Mom, arent' you proud? At least I look like a doctor...

This is what the inside of your nose and face looks like.

(If you are a man, with sandy brown hair and your face is cut open)

Actually, the task is quite fun - even with a mask on. The boys have been a big help - cause it's fun to break stuff. If we break it - well we kinda bought it already - demo really is the fun part. We'll be finishing that up tomorrow, then we will build some walls, put up some drywall, who knows in a couple of weeks we could make the basement habitable for beings other than the furry variety. The cat will have to go someplace else. By the way, she looks funny with a mask on.

Yes, I am REALLY out of touch...

So, I have a confession to make here. Listen up everybody....now here "this" - I am incredibly, unquestionably, horrifically out of touch with the world. There, I've said it. Soo glad to have gotten that off my chest.



Now, to obviate the point:



I watched the American Idol Finale (Part 1) tonight. "So what?" You ask. Well, this is the first time I've watched Idol this entire season. Fact is, I haven't watched a single episode since Clay and Ruben - or was it Ruben and Clay - I can't remember who won.



Since I'm in the confessing mood, here are a few others I'll fess up to:

• I've never watched an entire episode of Survivor - don't know what all the "alliances" are all about - and I really don't care.


• The Apprentice? Huh?


• Definitely never seen the O.C. or Desperate housewives (I'm not some kind of chick y'now)

As for more "manly" fare (gulp, here goes - my true friends already know anyway)

• I don't watch football - but have often watched the Superbowl just for the commercials (kind of like watching the American Idol finale just cause it was on.)


• Don't follow baseball either - who was in the world series last year?

So, there you have it! Confession is good for the soul. Now you know how sheltered I am.



Small footnote: For those of you who watched the Idol thingy - I really enjoyed watching Paula on painkillers - it seemed to get worse as the night went on. I think at one point she congratulated Jordin Sparks for her "vocal voice" which was "really on tonight."

Beware! Vampires are about.....beware!

So, this weekend we were out at Nichols Park for my niece, Mishka's birthday party. The sky was blue, the birdies were singing - and the buffalo gnats were biting us and sucking our blood!

I don't know much about these suckers except that they get into your face very aggressively, and they occasionally bite. On some people they leave big welts. There were some young ones present (a 5 month old little boy, plus my nieces - Mishka is just 1 yr.) Needless to say when we saw one of these parasites chewing on Mishka we decided that was it, our outdoor party was cut short. We invited everyone to our place instead. Not quite the same, but we did have a good time.



As for the Buffalo Gnat (also known as the Black Fly), they are in abundance this year. As a reminder, I work for a pest control company and we simply tell everyone that there is not much you can do about them. If you are like most people you find this quite disheartening. Imagine how I felt yesterday telling everyone - "...well, they will eventually die off...I think." These critters are usually associated with horses - or they can be found indoors in areas where there has recently been a lot of moisture. In that case you can fog em'. Outdoors - wear some repellant and pray.



But fear not - they will die off - and soon, we will be invaded by Cicadas!

So,,,they may serve a purpose after all.

Beth & I spent the weekend at our favorite getaway spot (a rustic cabin overlooking lake Barkley, KY). We did the usual - lots of nothing, reading, eating, T.V. and I also got to fish a bit. Friday, about noon we noticed some "wild" (feral) cats roaming about. (The technical name being: catus a-priori domesticus formerum et wildus en presentum -or catus wildus, for short.)

It should be worth noting - I am NOT a cat person. I don't mind seeing a cat now and then - from a distance - a great distance. In this case though, I actually thought it was cool. These cats weren't bothering anyone like most catus domesticus, (or, housus catus) - they were out "in the wild". By "bothering" I mean the usual - meow for this, meow to be let in - change of mind - meow to be let out, meow to be fed, always under foot, meow to be petted, scratch your eyes out to let you know you're petting them wrong. In other words - you know, bothering people. These cats were different - they were living out the dream. We identified at least three different cats within close proximity - two tabby-like grey striped ones and one that was brownish striped. I was then reminded that the feral (catus wildus) population in the state of Michigan is so large that they actually have a hunting season for the buggars - no joke.
Back to the story at hand. We were watching these "wild" cats among all the rest of nature, and we were reading and stuff. A little later we heard a loud THUMP! A bird had flown into the window near where I was reading. I watched as this little bird just writhed in agony. I then got to thinking - "Oh, I'm going to have to clean that thing up later or it will be crawling with bugs in a couple of hours, drat!" But, then a miracle - the little birdie seemed to shake it's head as if saying - ow! Then he stood up, started stretching his wings. It looked as if he would be o.k. Yes, the little birdie had a close call- but he was going to be all right! Whew! And then......
One of the wild cats pounced on him, and carried him away in it's mouth. Well, at least I hadn't had to clean it up. And hey, no sorry cat-person was having to cut his hand opening a can of food for that guy tonight.
A little while later me and Beth heard another familiar THUMP! This time it was near the dining room. We didn't even look. I later saw a brownish looking catus wildus sneak off with something in its' mouth toward the trees nearby. Just cleaning up the neighborhood I guess.

Apparently these wild guys new the drill - think of it: THUMP! Dinner's ready! What a life, eh?

By the way - here's my favorite cat picture. Nice huh?