Happy 16th Gotcha Day to Spunky Doodle! (Feline Friday Blog Hop)

Today my mom surprised me with two new things:  a new soft pink bed just for me and a cat scratcher wave which I had to try out right away!

It tips!

Ooh, this is good!

This is very comfy, so soft and just my size!

Thanks, mom.  Happy Gotha Day, Spunky!

I felt bad I didn't get her anything last year so got her two things this year.  We've had her since she was a tiny kitten.  She was born to a stray and started as an outdoor cat but is now only an indoor cat.  She adjusted just fine.

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Hallmark Christmas Movie Sweater

Thanks to my husband, I now am the proud owner of a Hallmark Channel Christmas Movie Watching sweater!  This was one of my Christmas gifts this year and is very comfortable.  I do enjoy watching Hallmark movies and especially the Christmas ones!  Even though Christmas is over, I think they are still running some but just in case, I still have a few taped that I can watch.  There were only two left when my husband went to order this one for me!  He couldn't believe people snatched them up.  Who else has one?

Do you like the Hallmark Christmas movies?  Some are definitely better than others, but I enjoy most of them.

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My Pets Gave me a Present!

Thanks to my wonderful husband, my pets were able to do a bit of shopping for me on the animal rescue site and give me this pretty purple flannel shirt for Christmas.  I would have held Spunky but she doesn't like to be held so we just gathered around her to get her in the picture too.  It's hard to see in the picture, but there are paw prints on the shirt.

Roxy got this shirt for my husband:

Spunky is old (15) so past the age of playing with toys and on a special diet that doesn't allow her to eat anything else so treats are out too.  I just pet her more and she likes that I am nearby more through the day now that I'm retired.


For Roxy, she got some fun toys from the lady I used to take the bus to work with:  a squeaky ball and a soft fabric toy.  Roxy also is getting some training with Don Sullivan's The Perfect dog kit.  It has two DVDs that Roxy watched with us and a special command collar for correction when needed.  So far, we worked on not pulling on the leash with good success.  I'm sure I'll be posting more about this in the future.

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Weekend Wrap-Up!

Friday my husband bought flowers for our porch and for the front section in front of our porch.  The assortment this year includes geraniums, merigolds and snapdragons.  We usually have success with geraniums.  Our yard has so little sun, it's hard to find plants that do well.

I enjoy our front porch and think the flowers add a nice touch.  Saturday, my husband helped me make my Top 5 Wednesday--Summer Covers video (it will be uploaded to YouTube Tuesday) from this spot which turned out great.  This is the best lighting I've found so far to shoot videos so I plan to make some more from this spot.  Think I'll be hanging our our wind chime this week.

I spent some extra time at the library this weekend stocking up on books I want to use for my next few Booktube videos.  This is just some of the books we got!  Manny Boy is looking them over, wondering why all these books are cluttering up his table.

This is a picture of a house we saw in our neighborhood for sale for only $32,900!  The yard is quite large as you can see, but it terrible condition.  The house looks small but not too bad from the outside.  I wonder what the inside looks like.

I had a very nice Mother's day.  These are the three cards I got:  one from both my cats, one from my wonderful husband, and one from our dog.  Plus, the pets gave me a gift card for Cracker Barrel!  We had great weather, no rain as was predicted.  It was a very nice day!  What did you do over the weekend?








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This May Have Been a Mistake (AWWW Monday)

Manny is lying on his new cat pad I got for him for Christmas.  I'm glad he is using it but he may just like it too much!  Yesterday he chose to lay on this all the while I was watching the football game instead of coming to lay on me.  Hmpf.  That is not what I had in mind when I bought it.

Manny says:  "It's no mistake, mom.  You finally found something I actually like!"  Thanks.  I still love you.

Joining up with AWWW Mondays.  


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Limping Along for Christmas but Happy Just the Same

Christmas morning (cats upstairs)

Christmas Eve morning, I noticed Abby (our dog) came limping to breakfast and walking much slower than usual.  Then when it was time for her walk, she just sniffed around by our bushes, then walked as far as the sidewalk and sat down.  We knew for sure something was wrong so called our vet and they said they had an opening at 9:00 and of course recommended that we bring her in to have her checked out.

We lifted her in and out of the car and the vet turned her leg and neck in all directions and proclaimed, nothing seemed broken.  We increased her daily Metacam dosage to the max allowed for her weight and put pillows by the furniture that she jumps off of to soften her landing.  All we can do is just take her out to do her business to rest her leg and see what happens.

Cookie from Moochie's

I am pleased to report that it seems to be getting better.  She still limps along, but much quicker than the first day and acts normal in all other ways.  For Christmas she gobbled up her special cookie before Gerard even could see it.  We put her new dog tag on along with her Canine Good Citizen tag with her new Links-It holder.  But the present she liked best and that the cats were

Blue Senior Turkey & Chicken Grill

interested in too was the Blue Mountain Senior wet canned dog food.  Oh, she was so excited for that and the cats both came over too trying to get some.  We gave her half on Christmas and she'll get the other half of the can today.

Here's just a short video to show how she is limping along this morning.

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I Turned 61 Today--Am I Old Yet?

Cake I picked out at Giant Eagle for myself--very sweet but the penguins called to me!

I had a nice birthday today and was showered with gifts.  We splurged a bit and had lunch at Cracker Barrel to celebrate using a gift card we bought at Giant Eagle so we get fuel perks out of it too AND guarantees me getting to go back again since we spent less than the $25 gift card amount!

Before we left, the first present I opened was from our cats, Spunky Doodle and Manny Boy:

"You've Cat to be Kitten Me Right--Meow"

That's what the puppet team's thought was when I told them I was 61 today.  It always makes me happy with people think I'm at least ten years younger or more than I really am.  Peter Pan is my hero! 

Go Browns!

This Browns sweater is from Abby who cheers along with me when the Browns score.  I always wear orange and brown on Sundays and Fridays during football season to show my support and sometimes even on Mondays if they win on Sunday.  Now if have another orange sweater I can wear besides the same one all the time--thanks, Abby!

Furry Siberian Tiger leg warmers!

When I opened the package, all I saw was fur!  I couldn't tell what they were but then Gerard told me.  I love leg warmers on really cold days and expect these will for sure keep my legs warm!  They are very soft too but don't worry, it is from Fabulous Furs, the Faux Fur experts.   

Of course, the best part of my birthday was that it came on Saturday so I could spend it with my husband and our pets, watched the Army/Navy game.  Funny, I don't feel any older.  Thanks for making my birthday a happy day!

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My First Shawl

I actually like my new shawl that my hubby gave me on the anniversary of the day we met.  He, of course, consulted the pets and came up with the perfect one for me that he found on the Animal Rescue Site (those are paw prints, sorry a bit blurry).  It's soft, gives me just enough added warmth so we can keep the thermostat in the 60s, and even has two pockets in it!  I keep telling myself, shawls are NOT just for old ladies, are they?

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It's Nice to be Appreciated

We are in our second year of visiting two nursing homes once a week with Abby.  Saturday, when we visited Pleasantview Care Center, the activities department surprised us with gift bags for all of us filled with assorted useful items, including puzzle books, Dollar Store gift cards, hand sanitizer, sticky notes, pens, and some snacks!  Even, our dog, Abby got a special bag of her own with a jar of cheese and bacon filled treats which she loves and we all got certificates for volunteering and a pin that says:

 "Volunteers--Our Greatest Natural Resource."
You make a difference every day with your dedication and caring way.
We're grateful for all you do.  We succeed because of people like you!

Even our cats enjoyed our gift bags--they are so easily amused:

Spunky was first at biting the ribbon, but guess she didn't want to be used for Monday Mischief and jumped off when she saw I had the camera ready.

Manny and Spunky Doodle (our cats) both enjoyed putting bities on the orange ribbon. 

Spunky liked sitting on the bags once we got everything put away.

Do you volunteer anywhere?  It's very rewarding and we really enjoy doing it.  We highly recommend it!

Related reading--Click the links to see our reviews and the books:
I Will Never Forget by  Elaine C. Pereira
Angel on a Leash by David Frei

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17th Anniversary of the Day We Met

ordered from 1800Flowers.com

My husband and I first met at a Pizza Hut on November 16, 1996 and hit it off right away.   Since that day we always have fond memories of it.  Monday, Gerard sent me flowers and candy at work which was a fun surprise.  Look at the cute doggie arrangement!  It has colored flowers behind the dogs too in a cute little basket.

He's learned from many years of experience that it's best to send me stuff on Monday so I can enjoy the flowers at work all week long and not have to carry them home on the bus for the weekend.  It's so sweet of him.  I know it's not practical, but romance is nice too sometimes.  He is definitely the romantic one in our relationship and I love him for that!  Receiving this at work made my day and was a pleasant surprise. 

The card he included was nice to, saying "The day I met you, my life changed for the better. You're the all time sweet, always remember how special you are." --Your loving husband, Gerard

His surprise gifts was one of the things I loved about him before we were married and I am very glad he still surprises me now and then even after 16 years of marriage.  I am so glad God brought us together!

What about you? Have you surprised your mate lately?

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Furkids Get Father's Day Gifts For Dad

Abby's gift for dad:  "Property of My Dog" t-shirt

Sleeping is very important so we got daddy some new summer pajamas:

Sorry mom goofed and didn't get the pajamas you wanted.  We got her to order you the right ones from Blair this morning, that have short sleeves and are shorts. 

We love you, daddy!  Woof!  Woof!  Purrrrr!  Meow!

In honor of Father's Day, I am doing a giveaway of the book I wrote in memory of my dad, My Funny Dad, Harry over on our book blog.  Hope you will enter!

Find more Monday Mischief posts or link up yours.

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6 Friday Fragments (news, sports, books, life, gifts, funny)

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

Bruins

My husband learned to never go to bed early while the Bruins are playing. They were down 4-1 under 10 minutes to go, in game 7 of the playoff round. He thought (1) the Bruins had no chance, (2) was disgusted, (3) had to get up at 4:15 a.m. so missed their amazing comeback to win in overtime 5-4! He was so happy!!!

 

Missing Children

Three girls were found alive a decade later that were held captive in a house that is on a street that my bus passes. There were lots of cars around, gawkers taking pictures of the house where they were found. Our Pastor mentioned on Sunday that there are 92 missing children in Cleveland! Here is a link to a news article with more detail if interest: Police: Amanda Barry, Gina DeJesus Found Alive.

A Page-Turner

I was reading Lisa Gardner's thriller, Touch and Go yesterday in the library garden on my lunch hour. I got so absorbed in it that I forgot to check the time and got back late! It was such a beautiful day I just lost track of the time. Oh well, that's what personal time is for.  The link will take you to our reviews--this is one that my husband and I both loved!

Good Things

7 a.m. Wednesday sky on my way to work-beautiful day!

Last week I posted about things going wrong and not working, but then I also made a list of nine things that are going well! Just wanted to let you know, there are good things happening too.

(1) Get to go to an Indians game for free during work Monday;

(2) My Twitter account has been re-instated,

(3) we got our G-tech vacuum cleaner replaced,

(4) Will be getting a $50 cashback bonus from Discover Card,

(5) got two gift cards ($25 Walmart and a $50 Target),

(6) got computer speakers now at work so can hear my email notification sound,

(7) both our baseball teams are doing well and the Bruins are still in the playoffs,

(8) we are feeling well, enjoying our new porch furniture,

(9) loving the warm sunny days we had lately!

(If you missed my post about my Twitter account being suspended, it's my v-log post:  What Bothered Me This Week?)

Mother's Day Gift

My Mother's Day gift arrived: an Indians Jersey with my name on the back with a sweet card from my wonderful husband!

Funniest Post

I have to share the funniest post of the week with you that I found over at The Junk Drawer: All That and a Bag of Chips.

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Aww Mondays: Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day Card from My Cats

 Here is what the Mother's Day card said that came from my two cats:

the outside:
I just want YOU to KNOW that I LOVE being your CAT.
That goes EXTRA for the times you are FEEDING me or petting me.
I want you to KNOW that just because I ignore you sometimes
and throw up on your stuff other times doesn't mean that I don't CARE.
I really ENJOY getting your attention, which seems EASY to DO
just by walking across your face while you sleep.

Inside says:
As a Cat, I know I'm entitled to the BEST, and although you have yet to buy me
that 4-tiered CAT perch I've had my eye on,
you're still the BEST MOM we could ever ask for.

Happy Mother's Day,
Spunky Doodle and Manny

Then from the dog, I got this one that plays "Bad to the Bone":

Card from Abby

The inside says:

AWESOME.
Happy Mother's Day, Mom!
Abby

I love that my husband loves our pets too and helps them pick out cards and gifts for me to show me special love on Mother's Day!  He's sweet! They got me a present too but it is still in transit.  My husband said I'll never guess what it is so I'm curious and looking forward to it.

Joining in with Aww Mondays and Pet Pride.

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5 Friday Fragments (Fun, Pets, Money, Gifts, Stress)

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

Dessert Auction

Went to our spaghetti dinner/dessert auction at church last Sunday which is to raise money for the mission trip to Haiti this summer and camp for our youth. Had a fun time but still working on my post about it. (It will be up tomorrow.) I bought a strawberry chiffon pie for $45! It was turning soupy though by the time I got it home and tried it. Finally put it in the freezer so now it's a frozen dessert; very good though! (That was one of the lower buys.)

Dental Cleaning

cat nip got him in before, but I'm out of fresh

This morning is stressful--Manny's dental cleaning is today which means (1) early supper yesterday (couldn't have anything after 6 p.m. so supper was at 4:30; (2) no breakfast for Manny this morning so I'm making Spunky wait until later for hers when it's time to get Manny in the carrier; (3) getting Manny in the carrier is always stressful; (4) poor Manny will spend the majority of his day at the vets; (5) and I have to pay hundreds of dollars for this wonderful experience--UGH!


Updated at 4:45 pm:  Manny came through fine.  Walked right into the carrier all on his own this morning, he was so hungry and thought I put his breakfast in there like I have been doing all week to get him primed.

Abby's Treats

I misplaced Abby's small treat bag. I'll have to recheck my pockets in my pants and coats. I think it's in my brown jacket from when I went on a walk with her on Sunday--I hope! I've been giving her some bigger bacon treats for at home. Yesterday she found my bus pass lying on our grass which earned her a treat! It must have fallen out of my pocket when I took out my keys and didn't notice.

Updated at 4:45 pm:  Found the treats in my frown jacket.

Secretary's Day

Wednesday was "Administrative Assistant Professionals Day" and our firm goes all out even starting weeks ahead! They gave us a delicious, huge breakfast one day, had gift drawings, and gave the staff $25 gift cards. Then, two of my attorneys who I work for directly came through with cash and two Petco gift cards! I think I see an additional cat tree in our future!

Duct Tape Disappoints

My trust #1 tool, duck  duct tape has never let me down until now. We have a kitchen towel rack that keeps falling down so I tried using the duck duct tape to hold it, but it still keeps falling. My van mirror fell off while driving a while back (some of you may remember I mentioned that), well the duck  duct tape works for several days, but then it gives way and I find the mirror hanging again. I'm taking it to a car repair place nearby today and hope they can fix it right. Days off are nice, but it seems every time I'm off, lots of money is spent! 

Updated at 4:45 pm:  Thanks, Sandee.  I did mean "duct" tape.  I saw it spelled as "duck" tape somewhere and thought I had it wrong, but apparently I had it right after all.

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So Much For My Tunewriter

I got this tunewriter for my birthday last December and used it in our computer/music room. It played nice until yesterday morning when I couldn't get any sound for the radio or tape and only minimal sound for the records. I have no idea why all of a sudden, the volume control went capoot! No matter how high I turned it up, it made no difference. Unfortunately, it is past the time for a refund for $237.42. When I called Brookstone's customer service, they agreed to take it back in exchange for a Brookstone gift card since itt has a 1 year warranty. At least they will send me a UPS shipping label to use so I don't have to pay the shipping. 

Why you getting rid of this great box, mom?

I immediately went looking for the box it came in which I had used as part of our kitty condo. The only slight problem is that I had cut a hole in the one side which I covered up with a flap from another box and once again used my trusty duct tape to reinforce the box. Spunky "helped."

So, I am so disappointed and kind of frustrated too that everything seems to be a hassle lately.  It never did make CDs from a tape or record that would play in anything other than my computer and the tunewriter itself.  I did try to copy a record onto a CD because I would do that with all the good records before returning it.  Guess what, that didn't work either!  It showed the tracks when I put it into the computer to play it, but there was no sound.  I regret ever mentioning that I would like one of these.  Oh, and another surprise I got when reading the instruction booklet was this:

WARNING:  This Product may contain chemicals listed in proposition 65 http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list / Newlist.html, that may be known to cause cancer, both defects or other reproductive harm. 

I was tempted to return it as soon as I got it when I read that, but decided to keep it anyhow.  It wasn't like I would be using it all that much, I figured.  Perhaps this is one of those blessings in disguise?  So, okay, out it goes.

At least I still had the box, thanks to my cats!

I didn't realize Spunky Doodle was so attached to this box.  She didn't even go in it when it was part of her kitty condo.  Guess the cats prefer their boxes to be spread out.  I have it all ready to go and just waiting for the UPS label via email.  I didn't want to see it anymore because it's just too depressing. Gerard felt bad too but said I could put his CD/tape player in the computer/music room. I didn't waste any time moving it in!

Do you have a purchase that disappointed you?

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We Got Boxes! by Spunky Doodle

Early Christmas morning Karen was making Manny and me a kitty condo out of cardboard boxes. I was testing them out as she stacked them and taped them together. It was so much fun watching her. I actively supervised while Manny watched from a distance. There are three different levels and she made it in two sections for easy repositioning. It turned out to be pretty big and she wasn't sure where she was going to put it. For now, it is in the upstairs hall.

Check this out

She keeps trying to take pictures of Manny and me in it in different sections, but we generally wait until she's gone. Sometimes I'll go in it when she's there but then she runs for the camera. I go in it more than Manny does. Once Karen put my Kong toy with food in it and after I ate it, I vomited it up right on the "welcome" door mat. At least I didn't make a mess inside.

Maybe if you have cats, you could make one for them! My mom had lots of fun making it (I think more than I have using it). Linked up with Camera Critters and Pet Pride.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

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Wordless Wednesday: One Happy Dog

I got a big doggie Christmas cookie later too!  Woo Hoo!

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I'm 59 Today and Showered With Gifts!

Happy Birthday to Mrs. Wonderful, Love Gerard

Today is my birthday but my wonderful husband started giving me gifts on Monday. Here is the very cute flower arrangement he sent to surprise me at work. It got a lot of comments but my bosses thought they missed my birthday. My husband has learned if he sends me flowers at work, to send them early in the week so I can enjoy them. They are hard to carry home on the bus so I just leave them there.

front view

back view

On Tuesday, my honey bunny gave me this unique full-length hooded sweater.  He likes finding me clothes that I wouldn't normally buy for myself.  I'm thinking, "when will I wear this" and "where am I going to put it?"  It's heavy like a light-weight coat so it's not exactly a sweater.  I think I'd roast in it wearing it inside all day so I think it will be used as a jacket on cool days.  Gerard says I could wear it when I walk Abby.  I never had one of these before, have you?  I could wear it in the around the house because we keep out thermostat at 68 degrees, but since it's soft yarn, if I sat down it would be covered with fur in no time!

Pound for Pound ORANGE AND BROWN

After Tuesday, Mr. Wonderful wanted to give me something he knew for sure I'd really like so the Cleveland Browns hoodie was my Wednesday gift.  Although I have two Browns hoodies already, they are heavier and the one is printed funny so I hardly wear it.  This new one is light weight and it even has printing on both sleeves.  The right sleeve says "CLEVELAND" and the left says "BROWNS."  It's very comfortable and I love it!

Birthday Card (college by picmonkey.com)

What a great card Gerard got for me!  I also got a few from friends and even one from AWANA.

drum roll, for my big birthday gift I opened this morning . . ..

bum, bum, bum, bum . . . you'll never guess!

It's a Victoria Tunewriter from Brookstone

YES!  This is something I had my eye on for about 10 years but it was like $300 so I never mentioned it to Gerard until just recently.  I really didn't think he would find one, but he did.  This is a big toy gadget that copies music from a record or cassette tape onto a CD.  Our record player is busted and we have a few records that we really like but never listen to and quite a few cassette tapes too.  Mostly I wanted this to make CDs of our records.  You can also use it as a radio, record player or tape player.  Gerard told Abby there are a lot of buttons, too complicated for her daddy but I will figure it out.  Good thing I am off work today!  I'm off to read the directions and try out my new toy.  The first record I am going to copy to a CD is FAME--one of my hubby's favorites.

Thanks for making my birthday week special my Super Duper Honey Bear!  Isn't he wonderful?


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