Fall Break, Part 2

OK, then!  On to the weekend...

Saturday

IT WAS BILL'S BIRTHDAY!  My good looking boyfriend turned 41 years old.  Yes.  You heard me, he is, in fact, younger than me.  Only by a few months.  Still a fact that I get some harassment for every year.  He chose to only do things he wanted to do on his birthday.  So, he went biking in the morning with a group of crazy mountain biking buddies.  Then he went golfing in the afternoon with Will.

Helena spent Saturday morning taking the ACT for the second time.  She was supposed to report in at the high school at 8 am...

... I woke up at 7:45 am with a vague sense of urgency that didn't seem to fit with a Saturday morning, until I bolted upright and realized that Helena wasn't up yet!  I felt so bad!  She was so rushed getting out the door that she didn't have time to eat breakfast or pack any snacks.  In fact, she also forgot her calculator in her rush and ended up taking the test without one.  GAH!  She was hoping to boost her overall score a couple of points, but I am afraid that the bad start might have prevented that.  We'll know in a few weeks, I guess.

Will spent Saturday morning sleeping in.

And me?  I went to Bill's niece's wedding.  She is also my niece, of course, but it might have confused you if you know my side of the family.  Helena is the oldest girl cousin in my family.  Anyway, Kaitlin got married yesterday morning.  Bill has so many relatives that we don't even try to make it to every event we get invited to. However, Kaitlin is special.  Once upon a time, she was in my 6th grade class.  I was her teacher and her Aunt!  Hmm.  That makes me feel old all of a sudden.

After the wedding, I spent a couple of hours in the kitchen helping prep the food for the reception and made an important note to myself.  HIRE A CATERER whenever Helena decides to get married (hopefully in the distant future).  I do not want her female relations slaving away in a kitchen on her wedding day instead of partying with her.

Once I got home from the reception, I quickly changed clothes and went with Helena back up to the U of U.  Her college tour was for an English class assignment.  In fact, she is not done with that, yet.  She still has to sit in on a couple of college classes.  But her AP Art History class has a term project to visit an art museum and write about it.  We were going to fit that into Friday's activities, but found there simply wasn't time for it.  So, we returned on Saturday just for the museum.

This was the first exhibit we looked at when arriving at the museum.  David Burnett was a photo-journalist.  HOLY COW!  His work is impressive!  Think of every major political/historical event in the past 50 years that you can... he was there and took AMAZING photos of it!  Helena and I were both in awe of his career.  I can't believe how many historically monumental events he was a first person witness to!  This turned out to be Helena's favorite exhibit, especially since she has been considering photo-journalism as a career for herself.

 This guy was a Western American painter who lived and painted during the Great Depression.  His works are very painterly and impressionistic.  I loved seeing the paint strokes!

In the two pictures above, I tried to capture the sparkle and shine of the paint.  He must have mixed plenty of oils into his paint (linseed probably).  These were painted in the 1930's, but look shiny and wet like they were painted yesterday!  I took a picture of the bottom one because I just loved how quick brush strokes can make the impression of everything in the picture!

 This might have been my favorite painting in this exhibit.  It represents all the down-on-their-luck unemployed men riding the rails looking for work during the depression.  It seems to resonate with today's economic climate.  The men are out of work and times are hard, but the painting is full of sunlight and color, which lends it a hopeful air.

 This horse looks like it is made out of driftwood, but the plaque says that it is bronze with a special patina.

 Lovin' the Native American room!  These are all Pacific Northwest Indian works, which is probably why they drew my attention.

 Maori Islander mask!  From the South Pacific room.

 In the European art section of the museum, there were pieces of furniture on display, as well.  I loved the wood inlays on the top of this table.  I can't remember how old it is... maybe 200 years?

 Helena taking notes in one of the European art rooms.  As we worked our way back in time, it got more and more tempting to touch the artworks.  The idea of age and antiquity are very attractive to me. I would love to touch the same paint that someone else put onto that canvas 300-800 years ago!  I restrained myself, however.

 I just liked how these statues were framed in the balconies overlooking an exhibit below.

 I am tempted to head down to Southern Utah and paint red rock just from looking at this!

 Ahhh!  From the antiquities section of the museum.  A Greek urn.  It is a good thing it was in a glass box.  I might not have been able to resist this one.  They did have a couple of Roman marble busts on display without glass cases, though.  I got nose to nose with one Roman dignitary, but I was a good girl and did not stroke his cheek.

Helena on the opposing balcony above an exhibit room.  The museum is cool.  If you haven't been to an art museum lately,  GO!

After the museum, Helena and I did the grocery shopping.  Usually, this is not a blog-worthy event, but something happened that I just have to share!  As we were leaving the check out, a little girl (of about 18 months) came walking up to us, shouting in baby jibberish and shaking a couple of packages of Hostess Ho-Ho's.  Apparently, her mom was in line a couple of people behind us, and Helena had been 'flirting' with the little one.  When we started to leave, I guess the little girl decided she wanted to give a gift to her new 'friend'... Helena!  When we wouldn't take the treats from her, she shouted again and threw them at us!  IT WAS SO FUNNY!  Her mom laughed along with us as she collected her daughter and the treats, and we chuckled about it all the way out to the car.

When we got home, we had another surprise waiting for us.  There was a kitten in the back yard!  Our dogs had backed it into a corner against the house.  Helena discovered it and put the dogs in the garage temporarily.  I snapped a few photos, then gathered it up and took it off our property.  It probably 'belongs' to the neighbors, you see.  They feed the feral cats and call them 'pets'.  It encourages the ferals to breed and we end up with stray kittens fairly often.  They just don't usually wander into our dogs' territory.  I just send them back across the fence.  I have more than enough pets at the moment.  It does look like Pepper could be the daddy, though, doesn't it?  There is no way, of course.  We had our cats 'fixed' when we got them.  We are not responsible for any stray kittens!

And, finally, some pictures of the fall colors in our yard!

There you have it.  Fall Break.  The kids go back to school tomorrow and I have one more day before returning to work!

The Cone of Shame

Remember the day that Pepper managed to sneak out and stayed out all night?  We noticed not long after he came back home that he was missing one of his back claws.  Somehow he had managed to rip it right off during the night while doing who knows what.

He won't quit licking at it.  It won't heal.

Now he has to wear the 'Cone of Shame' while it does heal.

What a dejected cat!  He keeps bumping into walls and door jams.  He is so disoriented and miserable!  And yet, he still wanted me to let him out with that cone on his head.  Not a chance, you crazy cat!

All's well...

... that ends well!

When I got home from work yesterday, I called several times for Pepper while I was checking on the dogs' food and water.  I heard a faint 'meow' and instantly remembered the time he got himself stuck in a tree!  Oooh!  I was worried he had spent last night's agonizing cold up a tree.  But, no, after calling and hearing him several more times, I saw him running up our driveway, crying for me!  He ran right up to me to be picked up and brought inside for some cuddling and pampering.  He had a slight motor oil scent clinging to him, so I guess he found a place to weather the night in a neighbor's carport.

I am so glad he heard me and came running, because last night was even colder than the night before!  With the wind chill it was down to -20* F.

-20!!!!!

Once Pepper was settled in, it was time for Helena and I to focus on her senior year registration.  I had spent the afternoon on Skyward researching the correct name for each of the classes she wanted and making sure I knew how to run this year's version of the process.  I had no troubles with accessing the system.

Right at 3:30 we tried to log in.  Um.  Right.

Every senior-to-be tried to log in at 3:30.  The system crashed.

We managed to get in, but it was taking 5 minutes just to load each successive page.  Grrr!  I made the mistake of thinking that maybe it was just my pc laptop that was struggling (after all, I had no troubles on my mac earlier), so we logged back out and tried to sign in on the mac.  Bad idea.  Now we couldn't get back in at all!

Meanwhile, Helena logged into Facebook to vent her frustrations and found a LOT of other students venting about the very same thing!  The servers couldn't handle the load.

Helena and I finally got back into the system (on the pc... apparently Internet Explorer was more successful than Firefox) and finished the painful process of registration.

All in all, it took an hour and 15 minutes to process 5-10 minutes worth of registration and she was fortunate enough to get all of her preferred classes.  Apparently, many of her friends were not so lucky.

So, what is she taking in her final year of high school?

Seminary
Philosophy
AP Euro History
AP Art History
Honors English
US History
Advanced Photo
Government & Citizenship
Symphonic Orchestra
Foods 1

You will notice that there is not a single math or science class.  Most people recommend taking both math and science in your final year, because colleges like to see it.  However, we decided that the risks outweighed the benefits, in this case.  Helena has struggled so much in maths and sciences that it would not necessarily reflect well for colleges to have it continue to destroy her GPA.

Now it is time to start preparing for Will's registration!

Jonah Day

I have had a terrible day, and it is not yet 9 in the morning!

AURGH!!!

This morning, while getting ready for the day, we discovered that Pepper is missing!  He must have managed to sneak out the door sometime yesterday and hasn't been seen since.  Bill has a bad habit of not shutting doors completely behind himself, particularly if he knows he will be going back through the door again shortly.  Unfortunately, the cats will sometimes take advantage of that and get out.  I don't mind that much if Tigger sneaks out, because he returns quickly and rarely spends more than an hour outside before wanting to be let back in.  Pepper is a different story.  If he sneaks out, he doesn't come back until it is dark out.

Since no one noticed he was gone last night, that means he spent the night out in the coldest weather we have had all month!  The low was 0* F.

I am so frustrated because he is my favorite pet.  I tolerate the dogs for the kids' sakes, and I like  Tigger.  But I love Pepper.  He is my playful Siamese crossed kitty-at-heart cat.  I hope he is okay and that he comes home today.

Meanwhile, when Helena left for school this morning, she accidentally shut the back door on Demi's tail.  Demi is one of the dogs.  They are mini-daschunds and get under foot constantly.  Bill inspected her tail and found that no bones were broken, but there is a wound on the tip that bled all over my kitchen while he was trying to get her to hold still so he could look at it.  So, I had to bleach mop the kitchen in the middle of my morning routine.

The extra events this morning prevented me from having breakfast.  I took a protein bar and a glass of milk in the car to eat on my way to work.  A bump in the road splashed milk all down the front of my coat.  Grrr!

Hopefully the rest of my day will go better and I REALLY HOPE Pepper is okay and comes home soon!

A New Kitty Hiding Spot

As soon as we had a few presents under the tree, the cats began fighting over who got to sleep under the tree in the little space between the presents and the trunk of the tree.  Other people have to worry about the pets stripping ornaments off the tree.  Yeah, my cats were completely uninterested in the ornaments.  Instead, we had some interesting brawls happen underneath the tree!  Goofy cats!

My Pepper and Me!

In case you needed hard proof that I am a cat lady.  NO, not a crazy cat lady!  Every night, Pepper seeks me out and snuggles in my hair.  And I used to be allergic to him! 

In fact, here he comes, now.

Um...

I know there must be some interesting reason this photo was on my camera. I just have no idea what it is!

The cat on top is Tigger. Cat on bottom is Pepper. Looks like they could both use a diet! HA!

A Grounded Spring Break

Both of the kids are grounded for all of spring break. Ugh. They are not allowed friends, movies, game systems, or any other electronic devices (including cell phones). It kind of sucks for me, because I wanted to take them out to the cinema, shopping, and other fun stuff that we now cannot do. Also, if I want to watch TV, I have to kick them out of the room.

However, I have noticed that when there are no other options, they turn to each other (and me) for entertainment. The photos above and below are examples of this. The upper photo collage is from Easter day. I had gone to the family room to blog (my last post, actually), when I was joined by both kids. They weren't doing anything, really. They just seemed to want to be near me. Helena had Pepper and took pictures of him 'trapped' under the blanket. Oh, and please note the prominent image of my poison of choice, the Icee!

The photo collage below was taken today. I have had a cold for the past couple of days and have only started to feel a little better this afternoon. Earlier, Will complained to me of boredom. I suggested things to occupy his time, including painting. He perked up at that (I have all sorts of art supplies, but the kids usually figure they are off limits... and rightly so) and was soon having a good time making a mess in the dining room.

Later in the evening, Helena and I joined him in wasting tube after tube of paint on what Helena called "Paint Therapy". Over time, it degenerated into face painting Will the "clown". I chased him all over with the camera, hence the 'action shots'. Soon after that a Nerf gun war broke out between the kids. I designated the front rooms (where I was) as "Switzerland" and all ordinance straying into neutral territory would be confiscated.

Now the kids are back at the table quietly painting again.

No TV. No boredom.

Easter "Morning"

It used to be that we had to set alarms to get up before the kids on holidays so we could be prepared for them. Now, everyone sleeps in when given the chance! No one was stirring before 10 a.m. this Easter morning!

The kids' baskets were color coordinated this year. I thought they looked very pretty!

We didn't do the Easter egg decorating this year. I thought I'd be sad about that, but really, it was just a relief to have one less mess to deal with. I'll boil some eggs later this afternoon to make deviled eggs to go with dinner. It worked out rather well anyways, since it snowed last night and our yard is a massive pile of snow and mud.

Easter "breakfast" happened at noon. Bill fixed a yummy spread that has me feeling sleepy now. He fixed a HUGE plate of gluten free pancakes, strawberries, and ice cream in a pie dish and then proceeded to eat ALL OF IT! This was after eating eggs and sausages, too! Sometimes I just don't know how he does it! He is so skinny and I wonder where it all goes.

Now I am relaxing in the family room with the fireplace merrily flickering. Helena is lounging next to me, tormenting Pepper. I think I'll watch a movie, or fall asleep.

A Pepper Moment...

Sorry there is no photo to go with this post, but it is dark and  my phone doesn't have a flash.

Last night, Bill was trying to figure out which 'luggage' to use for his 3 day weekend mountain biking get-away to Southern Utah (he left this morning).  He tried Helena's carry-on before settling on one of her older school backpacks.  In the meantime, he emptied all of the residue of Helena's last voyage onto a side table in the living room and left it there.

Tonight the living room is dark because the kids are watching a movie and I am on this computer.  Suddenly, Pepper came streaking across the room... with a tampon in his mouth! 

Not to worry, it is still in its wrapper.  The tampon was amongst the detrius that is waiting to be cleaned from the table.

Yeah. I know.  Kinda gross.  Tampons scattered in plain sight in the living room?!  I don't clean on Fridays.  That is a Saturday morning kind of thing.  Besides, we are having a quiet, stay-at-home weekend.

Anyways, we all had a good laugh, watching Pepper bat it around and treat it like a toy until Helena took it away from him.

Christmas Day in the Morning

As is usual, things looked much brighter in the morning. Everyone was cheerful, loving, and happy. We enjoyed the stockings first, down in the family room, by the fireplace. Even the puppies and kitties got a special stocking treat.

Then we went upstairs to the Christmas tree. The kids were very happy about their gifts... especially Will! He was overjoyed to receive a hunting bow because it is exactly what he wanted. He had convinced himself he wouldn't get one because I had told them we were scaling back on Christmas this year. :) The other photos in the collage are of the kids reading their candy cane letters.

I found a fun gift for my students to make for their parents. It is a letter of appreciation rolled up to look like a paper candy cane on the tree. A surprise gift. My kids knew about the students' gifts to their parents, so their candy cane letters were not a surprise, but they still enjoyed reading them.

After the presents were over, we had breakfast and cooked a coffee cake (another tradition), then set about cooking the traditional Christmas feast that should have happened the night before.

It ended up being a magical day. I don't remember a single fight or disagreement all day.

Where's Pepper now?

Pepper has taken to hanging out in very unlikely places. He still worms his way under the couch in the living room and nests in its innards, even though it is quite a squeeze for him. He (and Tigger) will climb into Bill's armoire and sleep on his thermals. The other day we found Pepper hanging out on one of the top shelves in the storage, as seen in this photo. Don't ask me how he managed to get up there!

This is his first year as an adult cat during Christmas. He (and all the animals, actually) will drink the Christmas Tree water if we don't watch him. He pulls exactly one ornament off the tree each early morning and leaves it for me to find on the rug at the kitchen sink. Don't ask me why. He is such a funny cat!

You know, every time I am fixing food for myself, he will come stretch himself to his limit, place a paw on the counter, and try to find out what I am making, and is it yummy food I'd share with him? Cheese and ice cream are his favorites.

Tigger the Trouble-finder

THAT STUPID CAT!!!

He insists on going outside all the time, but he can't seem to stay out of trouble!

He came in this evening walking funny. His whole back half seemed bent sideways, somehow. Pepper was also very interested in sniffing Tigger all over; another sure sign he's been into mischief. Bill inspected him and found that he was covered in dust and has a bite wound on his left flank. Heavy sigh. DARN CAT!

We've had these problems with a cat that I am pretty sure 'belongs' to the neighbors (meaning that they feed strays and their feral litters) for a little while now.

Bill gave him some pain meds (left over from the last fight/vet visit), then combed him down (he was shedding like none other) and I bathed him. Yeah. That went over about as well as you could imagine. Not what I wanted to do at 10:30 at night!

STUPID, STUPID CAT!

The $200 cat fight

One night last week, I accidentally left Tigger outside overnight. This isn't a first for him. When he is inside, he wants out. When out, he wants back in. That night he wanted out, but didn't turn up when Bill called him to come in, so he stayed out. In the morning, I found him curled up in the dogs' kennel in the garage. That is his solution when he wants a warm bed for the night.

On Thursday, Bill noticed that one of Tigger's front paws was swollen and infected. For a couple of days, we tried to keep it clean and let it heal. It didn't seem to be working. Today, we took him to the vet (after that nice long soak in the tub I told you about). The vet verified that he had been bitten on the paw and the puncture went clear through.

Two hundred dollars later, we have antibiotics, pain meds, and a lovely bonnet for Tigger. You can tell from his expression that he really loves his new fashion accessory!

Oh, what a beautiful day!

I was going to go on another walk today, but decided to start transferring the food storage into the storage room from the garage. That was enough of a workout for today! It is good to see food starting to fill up those shelves.

I spent the evening just sitting in the back yard enjoying what I would consider perfect weather. Not too cold to sit in the shade and watch the dogs and the cats frolicking in the back yard. Yes, I said frolicking! Pepper has only recently been allowed to go outside now that he is over 6 months old. He is so funny to watch. He 'stalks' the other animals, then pounces. With the dogs, he just races up to them and swats them on the nose. I guess this is because, being dogs, they don't know the proper response. When Tigger gets "attacked" he wrestles with Pepper. I suspect that this is the response Pepper was hoping for in the first place.

Here is an update on Helena's portrait. I know it looks funky, but you have to remember it is a work in progress. My students love to check on it to see if it has changed from day to day. I even had a little girl (3rd grade) ask me why I was painting it these colors. She was tickled pink when I told her that was a very good question and told her that these are the colors of my daughter's room and that is where the painting will be going when finished. I am enjoying working with oil paints. I haven't done any oil painting in 20 years, so I think it is turning out fabulously considering my complete lack of experience in the medium!

Stealth he is not

Bill refilled the bird feeder this afternoon. He left the window open so that the cats could hear the birds, then he waited.

Both cats were intently focused on the birds, but only Pepper acted on it. He tried to be all stealthy and silently leaped up on the counter.

For a while the birds either didn't notice him or ignored him, I'm not sure which. The moment he crossed "the line"...

... they were gone!

I can tell you, I am so very thrilled (not) that the cats now have another reason to jump up on my kitchen counter!

Tigger and Pepper

Every night, almost without fail, Tigger and Pepper get in a brawling wrestling match. It is so funny to watch! Tigger is very vocal about it and sounds like he is complaining the whole time. He is actually having a good time, though, if his swishing tail is any indicator. It is funny that Tigger is so vocal and Pepper is nearly silent all the time. I have been told that Siamese cats tend to be quite vocal. Not Pepper! I can't tell you how many times I have tripped over or stepped on him! I am his favorite human, of course, so he is always under my feet. Every morning he attacks my legs until I pick him up and cuddle him. He does the same thing when I get home from work.