Kitties, dinosaurs, and tornados. Oh my.

It is really the kittie's fault. The trouble that those two get into. They work as a team. One follows the other. One is the lookout while the other opens the drawers to my jewelry box. One works on popping the closet door open. While the other rushes in to steal crocs. They are double trouble. And they have always reminded me of that pair of velicoraptors that chase the kids through the kitchen at the end of Jurassic Park.

So when I made this comparison, my girls had no frame of reference. I mean. Jurassic Park was released before they were born. After a few adjustments to my netflix queue, we were ready to sit down and watch the movie.

Katie LOVED it. And it was just the beginning of our so called disaster flick marathon.

There was "Day after Tomorrow." Which led to many discussions on the "science" used by Hollywood. To does global warming = an ice age? To how cute Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal are. Serious. And educational discussions.

"Deep Impact" was fun to watch.Especially after reading "Life as we Knew it" which tackled what would happen if a comet hit the moon.

With all of our volatile weather this spring...and Madalyn's new found terror over tornados...watching "Twister" was actually quite helpful. I could show Madalyn that there was no way we would have a tornado unless she saw a cow flying through the air.Fears totally abated. (Total trivia side note. Twister was the first movie released on dvd. You're welcome.)

And then there was "Independence Day." And now Katie can write a dissertation on the various ways that the Statue of Liberty can be destroyed at the movies.

So...what about you? Do you have a favorite disaster movie? Summer blockbuster? Popcorn movie?

A closer look

Well, yesterday I showed you the big picture of all the planting that Michael did on his "braincation." And today, I thought I would show you all the flowers that I picked out. While Michael did all that hard work in the front yard, I put a few geraniums in a planter on our deck.Should I mention that I started with impatients? But they did not last too long with all of our rain. And then that freak snow over our Spring Break in April. Between the weather and my inability to nurture plants, they are all doomed.

I also got my first tomato plant.I've never had a garden. I want one. But, maybe, I just like the idea of a garden. After all the angst that this tomato plant has caused me. I am not sure how well it would do. Then you do have to take into consideration that we live on a really wooded lot...and I have no area that gets full sun. But my tomato plant. Well. The tomatoes keep dropping off. And I have a trail of ants. Who have climbed up to the second story to make their home in the dirt of that plant. I am thwarted at every turn.

My favorite plant on the deck is my minature petunias in a cup. It's a really big cup. We got these for the end of year teacher gifts. I figured that I am a teacher. And I would celebrate myself.

So...what about you? Do you like to garden? Do you prefer vegetables or flowers? Do you speak plant? (Don't forget to enter to win the autographed Paula Deen cookbook!)

Blog siesta

I think I have had a really long blog siesta. And it's time to wake up. So much has happened over these four months. Some things are blog worthy. Sponge worthy? Some things not. So. In a nutshell. This is what we have been up to:

After Michael got out of the hospital, he hung around the house for a few weeks. Killing time before they could start him in the cognitive and occupational therapy program. He was rather underfoot. Then when he started the program, we were at the rehab center two or three times a week for a few hours. I have read an unbelievable amount of books this year while sitting in waiting rooms.

Instead of hiring a landscaper to put in our spring flowers...I thought Michael might be up to the task. He pulled out the winter pansies. Planted lots of annuals. Planted bulbs. Mulched. And the yard looks fabulous.I am not sure that he is going to get out of being our new gardener. I think he was grateful to go back to work so that he could escape my next trip to buy flowers.

Is it too far gone to talk about the snow we had in March?Yeah. I thought so.

What about Lizzy and her girls coming for Easter?What if I added that she makes dyed plaid eggs? I've told her that I am expecting a plaid tutorial next year.

Well...on Easter Sunday, we went to church. And then we had the biggest Easter Egg hunt in the world. I thought we did it last year. But this year, we out did ourselves. It was really all my mom's fault. She was thinking 500 eggs. So...we bought a bunch of eggs and candy. And when we started filling those eggs, we ran out of eggs. So we bought more eggs. And then ran out of candy.It was a never ending cycle. I think in the end we had 778 eggs "hidden" in the yard. Hidden really does become a relative term with that many eggs. And do you know how heavy the bags are when there are only 9 girls searching for them? I found another one in the yard today. We are still missing one with a dollar coin. I wonder if that one will evah turn up.

And then there was the worst Spring Break in the history of the world. According to my children. Because I made them empty out their closets.And their drawers. And. Try everything on. Katie has made that pivotal turn. She is officially out of the children's department. And into shoes larger than mine.

Oh. Another thing I did on my blog siesta was to go and meet Paula Deen. I think that might have gotten your attention. And as a reward for wading through all this drivel. I have an extra autographed copy of "The Deen Family Cookbook" waiting here just for you. To enter just follow the fine print: comment for your first entry. You can get extra entries for following, tweeting, and/or blogging about it. Just come back and leave extra comments saying so. Contest ends Friday, May 29th at midnight. Winner selected randomly.

So...what about you? What is the longest you have gone between blog posts? Have you cleaned out any closets lately? Are you a Paula Deen fan? Do you have a favorite cookbook?

Well laid plans

I thought that I would get back to writing. That I would get back to reading and commenting. But getting back into the swing of things. Finding my routine. Well, it hasn't been an easy process. Especially since things here are not exactly normal.

Michael is doing great. He gets his staples removed tomorrow. I think he'll be back at work next week. But. He can't drive until the end of July. So, I have begun a six degrees of seperation quest. There has to be someone who lives somewhat near us. And that works near Michael. He cannot be the only one making that daily commute. I have yet to find that person. So. It looks like I am going to be his chauffeur.

Chauffeurs spend an awful lot of time in the car. Time they could be spending at home. Or shuttling children to activities. Or cooking dinner. I have no idea how I am going to get everyone where they need to go. I am going to be an incredible juggler come August.

So yesterday. After my end of year PTA meeting. While I sat here in front of a blank screen and contemplated my next blog entry. Thinking I might tell you about the snow that we had on the first of March. Or maybe about our Spring break. Or meeting Paula Deen. Or my strange desire to have chickens. Or about my newest TV addiction. I was brought out of my day dream by strange hacking noises.

And as I went to investigate, I found one of the hooligan kitties coughing. And foaming at the mouth. She naturally ran from me. And hid behind our washing machine. Still making these horrid gagging noises. Finally with a broom and the long arm of Michael, we extricated her. Stuck her in the kitty carrier. And set off in search of a vet that was really close to our house.

It was challenging paying attention to the road as I listened to Jessie try to breathe. That high pitched wheeze. The struggle to push air into her lungs. The wet congestion as she tries to release whatever she is gagging on.

The first one I pulled into...the doctor was gone. And they directed me to another vet another mile up the road. As I pulled into the next office...they were expecting us, and took Jessie right away. It wasn't too much longer before they came to let me know that they had to put her under anestheia. And it looked like she had a shoe lace stuck in her esophagus. They were working on pulling it out. And they would keep me updated.

Have I told you how bad these kitties are? I thought so. Well. Apparently, these vets now have a great story to tell. About the cat that ate 40 hair tyes. And got them stuck in her throat. At least the bill this time was only $400. And not the $1200 that her sister cost us for eating foam.

Happy first birthday hooligan kitties.

So...what about you? How many emergency room visits have you had this year? Ever? Do you keep a running log of blog topics? Know anyone Michael could carpool to work with?