Cat pictures can be deceiving....

I've taken some other photos of my cats........I know, shocking! They appear to be best friends or partners in crime. However you look at them, it's not what you think! The first one depicts them just being cozy....not so. Yoda (gray cat) was sleeping right where he is in the photo. Trouble (orange cat) decided to bring the toy that is next to him upstairs and play right next to Yoda. Then he commenced OPERATION ATTACK YODA. He does this quite frequently. No warning to Yoda what-so-ever. Yoda gets mad and then runs. Yup, like a scared rabbit.
The next picture is Yoda being classy with the toy (beads from my Las Vegas trip with sister Cathy on her 40th some years ago ;-)....) and playing with them in said fashion.
And the last picture is of the two of them after they accidently discovered that they were laying next to each other--without fighting!---and waiting for me to finish my breakfast! Seeing them side by side this way doesn't happen very often. Unless you count all the wrestling matches and battles between them! It's like having two children.....really! They run up and down the stairs, up and over the couches, etc. So don't let the photos of ANY cat fool you! It more than likely isn't what it looks like! Trust me!!!!!

N.D. Moberg Family to help fight cancer

My brother Kevin and his family will be helping the American Cancer Society raise money for research on fighting cancer. Now if you have family or know someone personnally that has dealt with this type of issue, maybe you would like to donate or give something in memorial or in honor of that individual. Check out their link to find out how you can help.

http://kevinmoberg.blogspot.com/2007/07/help-us-fight-cancer.html

Cats on attack lookout!

The other day as I was doing something in the kitchen, I noticed that the cats were intent on watching something out the door. Upon further observation, I saw a bunch of birds out in the yard, frolicking in the water run off from my sprinklers. I had the inside door open and the cats didn't take long to see the wildlife gathering. Trouble, the orange cat, saw them first. Then Yoda spotted them not long after. Yoda was half way up the stairs when he caught sight of them so he just hunkered down as low as he could get....considering he was on the steps, it didn't leave him much space to get on his belly! Soon he crept his way down to the door and joined Trouble for a better view.
They have had no problem getting used to the new house. They especially love the windows all over. The basement has windows with a large sill that they can sit on. And it's better for them when I have them open....the birds are eye level and they can hear them chirping. It's quite funny to see their cat tails hanging out from under the curtain and swooshing back and forth as they ponder an attack! And the living room windows, if you recall, are all floor to ceiling. So they spend a lot of time peering through them.

New 'do for me!!!

I finally had to get my long hair cut off! It's been too hot and I'm tired of finding long hair all over the floor. I liked it but it was just time for a different look! I will be donating two ponytails of 10 inch long hair to Locks of Love. Here are the before and after looks. What do you think?
Julie, my hair girl, did a great job of mixing 3 different cuts that I had shown her in a book.....her own creation!

Dennis retires from SWA

Dennis Brislen, 66 years old, decided it was time, after 10 years of employment at SWA, to call it quits. Yesterday, July 16th, was his last day. He and his wife Jan aren't wasting any time on their travels either. They were planning on flying out of Omaha to California this morning! Dennis, Jan and a bunch of people that work with him decided to get together at The Upstream Brewery here in Omaha. Dennis started just a year after I did. So I've known him for many years. He was a customer service agent....in other words, he worked at the ticket counter and the departure gates. He is still an avid runner....and ofter competes in marathons. Two of his own children were able to attend as well. It was a very bittersweet yet exciting event for him. He will love being able to sleep in and travel on any day of the week....without having to get the days off from work! I made sure to take my camera. I wasn't the only one snapping photos with it. I have to say, it was interesting to see what I had for pictures after I got home! Here are just a few to show you our fun time!


Dennis

Patti and me next to her
Roger and Don nearest the camera on the end.

Dennis's wife, Jan and me
Dave (not from SWA but a neighbor of Dave whom works at SWA) and Dave

Jodi, Rodney, Dennis, Jan, Me and Patti
Dave, Dennis and Jodi
Me and Dave.....Dave took the photo while standing next to me.
Amy (Dennis's daughter), Kathy and Jan
Rodney is behind the lamp shade......looks good on him!

House Warming Party....definitely hot.

On Saturday the 14TH, my girlfriend Dee and her boyfriend Chris, held a party to celebrate the new house that they moved into on Memorial Day weekend. They had already purchased the hot dogs, hamburgers and brats to put on the grill. So everyone else brought either buns or their choice of a side dish, to help her out. I made a salad. It was Caramel Apple Salad. Very good! And it was a hit with all the other guests once they figured out that it wasn't potato salad! (?) I guess the apples made it look like potatos. The recipe is very simple: chopped apples and chopped snickers candy bars stirred into a dressing made up of cool whip, instant vanilla pudding and milk. It is very refreshing on a hot summer day.
I'm not sure just how many people were there but I would have to guess about 60. Not only were our immediate group of friends there, but so were Chris' family, Dee's family, neighbors and Lisa's family. It was a great time. People sat outside on the patio most of the time. The kids were running around playing with balls and the all time favorite on a hot summer day......squirt guns! The tempurature rose to just a mere 94* that day. It wouldn't have been so bad if the humidity had been lower. A very moist hot day.
But it didn't stop people from having a good time. Congratulations Chris and Dee!

Sneaky photo

I had mentioned in a previous blog the fact that I wished I had a photo of the kitchen counters before I had put everything away. I hadn't noticed until now, that I actually DID have one. Here is the before and after of the kitchen mess.




I now have a functioning kitchen! I'll never take a kitchen for granted! It's nice having available counter space for cooking, writing lists of need-to-get items, etc.
When I was putting photos in on the mess of boxes, I somehow missed the kitchen mess. There you have it.

More boxes emptied

I can't believe just how much stuff a person can acquire over a lifetime. I have done quite well on getting things out of boxes and hanging items on the walls. But it's kind of fun to find boxes of stuff from school! I forgot about the ones I brought back from N.D. on one of my last trips home. My pile of boxes inside has dwindled down to a few and the pile of boxes needing to be broke down (I know, I should do that as I empty them. But I'm too anxious to move on to the next box to bother with that at the time!) out in the garage has grown substantially! But that's OK! That will be the quickest part!
It's hard to get as much done as I would like to each day. Especially on the days that I have worked. I'm not too energetic to work very hard once I've arrived home. It's nice to sit and relax or sneak in a nap.
I have actually done some repairs/amendments on a few things as well as unpack. I replaced a shower head and added a towel ring to the wall in one of the bathrooms. I still have a small medicine cabinet to hang in there too. The sink drain stopper doesn't work either. But without thinking about it, I found the parts that I will need to repair that too! Another day! And believe it or not, the garage door opener didn't have a light bulb...I added one! (Yep....tough job to handle.)
I have replaced/repaired a very strange added-on-instead-of-actually-fixing-the-original-door closer on the storm door. Let me explain: there were two door closers---one on the top of the door and one on the bottom of the door. Why? Not so sure. The bracket for the one up top was barely hanging on the door frame with literally, one screw. And it wasn't even screwed all the way into the frame. Next, the cylinder wouldn't stay connected to said bracket because the door had been opened and closed so many times that the metal had gotten twisted and broke as a result. The pin that connects the two fell out one day after I had gone through the door. That's why I noticed that the entire set up was so funky. It made me look a little closer and that's when I discovered the little mess before me. The bottom door closer worked fine but again, not put on the door very securely. So I made my way to Ace Hardware one day and found parts for the door closer. I never knew just what the parts were called until this trip to the hardware store! A person learns something new every day! :0 To me, it was just the part that kept the storm door from slamming shut! After mixing and matching old pieces from the bottom door closer and new parts from the hardware store, I fixed the door properly. And there was a chain hanging from the door frame that was connected to.......NOTHING! I know what it's supposed to be used for. To keep the door from opening too widely. But after I got done adjusting the cylinder, the chain was no longer needed! I took it off! The door entry not only looks better, but the door closes more smoothly now than it ever did! (I'm patting myself on the back!)
I still need to fix the trim on the outside of one of the kitchen windows. When the window opens outward, it catches on the metal trim. I think that should be an easy fix........with the help of my trusty new ladder! I also need to add a light bulb to the fixture up over the garage door on the outside. I swear, the easy stuff to take care of was left undone by the previous owners. Not sure if it was laziness or they just didn't care.
But as I put more things away, I find little things that need attention. Emptying boxes.....good.
Learning how to fix things......good. Needing tools I've never had before.......eh.....ok. I like Menards anyway!

Green shoes......I love it!

Today, I mowed my lawn with my new lawn mower. I even remembered to buy a small gas can (one of the items on my list!) and get it filled just for mowing. It was like riding a bike. You just don't forget how to do some things and this is one of them. I haven't had to mow for more than 4 years now. I have to say that I've missed doing it. I always enjoy anything that gets me outside........even if the weather was 90* and a humidity factor that was overwhelming! I had kept an older pair of shoes--just for this job, mind you--and dug them out for my new responsibility! Wow, the grass was thick. The former owners had left the sprinkler system on to run a few times a week. So even though we hadn't had rain for several weeks, my lawn was quite plush. Now all I need to complete my yard duties will require me to add to my ever growing list. A weed wacker! Maybe I'll buy a green one to match my shoes!

Back to work (my real job)

The 4TH of July I was scheduled to go back to work after 5 days of moving, unpacking and organizing an entire household. But all I can say about that is.........IT IS SO WORTH IT!!!
I was glad to go back to work so that I might actually get a chance to sit down and rest my back once-in-a-while.
After work, I didn't get a whole lot done. I think I unpacked one or two boxes but that was it. The labor of the previous weekend had caught up with me and I ended up napping on the couch for a couple of hours. That in turn, ruined my normal night of rest for work the next day. After everything I had accomplished, I didn't mind a little shut eye! But I have all the time in the world now, to finish the rest of my unpacking!

My growing list

Now that I had a few days to organize the major stuff, today was when the clothing and china hutch would get unpacked.
Do you ever notice that there is always something in a house that you want to add something to or change or paint or needs fixing? I had already made a few mental notes of some of these things and decided to start a list of what I would eventually need to purchase or change.
After the job of putting away my clothing, I started in with unpacking the millions of items I have for the china hutch. It happens to be part of a set that includes a big dining room table and 6 chairs that I inherited from my Grandparents Moberg. (Dad's side) I'm trying to keep in mind that I now have more of my own Mother's things from her china hutch that I would like to include in the inventory of the hutch. OK, what do you leave out to make room for other things? I have yet to figure that out! As I type this, my hutch is full and the box of my Mom's things is sitting on the floor while I try to figure out how to incorporate all of it into the hutch! AAACCCKKKK!!!!! Not going to happen! The only thing I can come up with at this point is to add another item to the growing list of future purchases! Another small glass enclosed cabinet that would fit beneath the half wall in my kitchen! I believe it would provide ample space to display all the beautiful items that I don't want to hide in an enclosed cabinet.
Or...........now that I have a garage.....a garage sale for my own things would work too!

P.S.
I almost forgot. One of the items on the list was a lawn mower. During the day, while taking a break, I drove to the mall-namely Sears, and purchased a lawn mower. I purchased a Craftsman push mower. Nothing fancy...but enough to get the job done! So shiny!!!

Unpacking

Ok, because I was too busy during the actual move to think about snapping any pictures, I did manage to get a few after the fact. None of the actual crew that assisted me with the huge undertaking but a few of the mess inside.

That's just the way things were left for me. I didn't get one of the kitchen (surprisingly enough!) and I wish I had. That had to be the worst mess I've seen in quite awhile. The counter tops were literally covered with stuff from only a few of the boxes that I knew I needed items. Once you see the pictures of the counters cleaned off, you'll have a better idea of how much was on them!

The computer didn't get hooked up right away due to the fact that I needed another cable jack installed in the room that I had decided to use as my office/crafting room. That small job was done on Friday, later in the week. But that was OK because I was forced to accomplish a few tasks that I may have put off had my computer been up and running! ;)

Monday the 2ND, I returned the truck and received another ride home from one of my friends. She also had the day off from work. Most of Monday afternoon and night, the better part of 8 hours all total in fact, I was busy in the kitchen. I was cleaning out cabinets and drawers, then lining them with new shelf paper. Once that was done.....(which seemed like days,)...........I managed to unpack all the kitchen items, and find a new home for all of it! I even ran a load of dishes in the dishwasher just to clean off the paper wrapping residue. When 11:00 PM rolled around, I was finally done! Ish!!!! I must reiterate the fact that I hate lining shelves and drawers with paper! What a tedious job! But I must admit, they all look like new now! And I can at least cook!

P.S.

I forgot to mention this little tidbit. Sunday the 1st, I broke in the washer and dryer. As I was trying to organize anything that was in my way, I washed 5 loads of laundry! From regular clothing to towels and bedding and rugs! I love having my own laundry room!