Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Christmas at the Scordato Grotto

Well last night I put up the tree, an artificial one Mom and Dad used to use that we inherited. I am pleases because I actually know how to put it together. I put on 300 clear lights and to my pleasure, found a box of ornaments I hadn't been able to find in years lik ecookie monster, strawberry shortcake and snoopy. I got an ornament every year so the tree looks okay. We got some blue and silver bulbs at Target, some wiht snowflakes and there are a few presents under the tree.

When I put the tree up and turned my back on it, Tweek promptly climbed 3/4 of the way up. I don't know how since he doesn't have any claws, but he was so scared that when I plucked him out he didn't seem to have any interest in doing it again. He likes to bat at the ornaments of course.

Tonight I will hang a light up wreath on our cleaned off front porch, put out a new welcome mat, and do some other house-y things.

The good news is that Andrew has accpeted a job offer with Doctors West. He starts January 8th in their ER and we will actually be able to commut together during the week.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

The Amazing Adventures of Tweek Or, How Our Cat Nearly Caught Fire

I love candles in the wintertime. I love how they add a cozy touch to a room and their subtle fragrance that fills the area. I know that candles cause all kinds of house fires but I am very, very careful or at least I was until Tweeker.

By the time we got Tweeker I was pretty much done with candles for the season. Last night I had one burning on my new old dresser (maybe you've seen a picture?) I left Andrew reading in bed, asking him to keep an eye on Tweek (who has been known to jump up an said new old dresser).

Apparently while I was in the bathroom, a fly (did you know Tweeker is the number one stalker of flies in Champaign county? Known to jump 6 feet off the ground in pursuit of one) caught Tweek's attention. The fly landed on the wall above the dresser. So Tweek jumped on the dresser.

This is where the recollection of events gets murky. I don't know if Andrew noticed immediately that Tweek was on the dresser or if it was only the bitter smell of burning hair that pulled him away from his Clive Cussler book. The long and the short of it is that the candle singed about a a baseball size area of Tweek's fluffy hair.

Now, do not be alarmed. We are pretty sure Tweek has no idea it even happened. Andrew yelled at Tweek so loudly that the cat immediately jumped down from the dresser. It's not that Tweek has no hair it's just that it is flat and short where the rest is fluffy and now our bedroom smells like burnt hair. So no more candles. I killed the fly.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Okay so make it November

Friends and Family,

Most likely you have seen the online photo albums first and that pretty much sums up my excuses for not posting or writing in ages. Andrew has his paramedic card and is in the process of following up on a couple of job prospects and in the meantime putting in lots of part-time hours. I love, love, love, my job as teen services specialist and have enjoyed some early challenges and successes. That keeps me pretty occupied but so far I have been pretty good about not bringing a lot of work home. We have our lawn in and trees; We now have four prairie fire crabapples lining the lane. I guess in the spring they are a jaw-droppingly bright pink so we will see. We also have a sycamore, a green mountain maple. We have 7, count em 7 adorable blue spruce pine trees and Andrew has quite the little orchard in the back.

I spent most to the late summer out at the club taking pictures. I am immensely proud of the deer shots but that was about as good as I was going to get with my trusty easy share and just a couple weeks ago I got a Canon Powershot 3. I can't make any promisies when I will get out into the field with it because of weather and other um, pursuits. In the meantime I have been trying to keep up with house and reading loads, I mean loads of outdoor photography books. I come home from the library and Andrew says, "Did you leave them anything?" Of course I did.

That's really all the news fit to print. Tweek is pretty much done growing I think. He will always be a small cat. He is starting to really snuggle with us at night now that it is getting colder.

Hope you liked the photos, will try to post before say, April :0 Jules