back to life. back to reality

that song has been playing over and over in my head for the past 36 hours or so.

since i got back home from LAS VEGAS!

spent saturday to friday of last week there.
tuesday to friday - WORK
saturday to tuesday - PLAY

and you know how they say - What Happens in Vegas - STAYS in Vegas?
not necessarily so.
here's the low down...

walked the strip till i thought my feet would rot off - CHECK!
ate Sushi - TWICE - CHECK!
got a Henna tattoo - CHECK!
danced with some drunk guy after he bought me a drink - CHECK!
gave girlfriends the "we gotta leave here NOW!" look after dancing with drunk guy - CHECK!

slept late - DOUBLE CHECK!


dressed up, went to dinner at Michael Mina's at the Bellagio before going to see "O" by Cirque Du Soleil - CHECK!

Saw Folies Bergere* at the Tropicana - CHECK!

* this is one of those traditional Las Vegas Show Girl Shows. you know the ones, beautiful topless dancers with lots of feathers, diamonds and such. a group of seven of us went. problem was - i was too vain to wear my glasses and too lazy to pop in my contacts so i had to keep asking my girlfriend - IS SHE NEKKID YET? From where i sat and what i could see, it was the itty bitty titty committee up there. and my friends/co-workers may never go out in public with me again...

Had my purse stolen - CHECK!

Got my purse back - less $100 CASH - CHECK!

smoked my first cigarette in 8+ years as a result. Remembered immediately why i quit smoking - CHECK!

went shopping at Nordstroms for a new bra and to my amazement they had 100 different varieties and colors in MY size. a size that they have to special order in Dallas. the sales lady said they sell a lot of this size in VEGAS. i said "maybe so, but i was born with mine" she smiled and winked. new black bra - CHECK!

saw this comedian - Richard Jenni - he did a private engagement at our conference. talk about being at the right place at the right time. was chatting up the new ceo of my company after the show and the conference coordinator comes and invites him (the ceo) backstage to meet Mr. Jenni. CEO is WAY cool and takes the 4 of us - standing there talking backstage with him. Mr. Jenni was really great - quite concerned that he had delivered the kind of show we (my company) were looking for. i am such a groupie. we should just be glad it was not jon bon jovi. i'd have been fired on the spot. retained my cool when meeting celeb du jour - CHECK!

danced on roof top bar of casino. 51 floors above the lights of vegas. OUTSIDE dance floor. i cannot even begin to tell you how surreal this was. i have the best job. the greatest co-workers and when we work - we work hard. and when we play - we play just as hard. danced with ken doll cute new Sr. VP of my division and did not embarrass myself - CHECK!

so i am back home now. via a short trip to atlanta on saturday for a few high school graduations. another story. another day. in the mean time - congrats and love to my nephew Brandon and my niece Danielle! Class of 2006 ROCKS!

sorry to be gone so long. 60 plus hour weeks for the past 3 weeks. but it's been worth the work. i love my work, my customers, my coworkers, the whole gig is really pretty sweet. now if i could just get them to pay me what i'm worth...

and there's that song again...

back to life. back to reality...

OK, OK already...

Kitten pictures for everyone...
~ grin ~

i know - my grass needs cutting. i'll get right on that...

Yeah, Right...

kittens and nitro cat - still in big cardboard box.

still on my back porch.

if it's not one thing, it's a mother CAT

we have a new litter of kittens. i was not fast enough on the uptake to get Nitro Cat (aka Momma Cat) fixed after the last batch.

and for the record - i did NOT name this cat. i named the dog. Dixie. a perfectly appropriate name for a well bred southern dog.

so she had these babies - nitro cat, not dixie dog - maybe a month ago. we did not 'see' them this time. just could tell she was no longer prego. and she's gotten better at hiding them since the last batch. a month goes by. momma cat eats enough to feed a small nation of she-cats and still no sign of baby cats.

until this past weekend. hubby is cleaning out the barn. time to corn feed the steer. if you don't know what that means - let me put it to you this way...

we will corn feed cheeseburger (i didn't name the cow either) for 30 - 45 days while he resides in a stall in our barn. and then after some 'adjustments,' cheeseburger will reside in my deep freeze.

so, cleaning out barn. discovers litter of four kittens.

now momma cat is a calico of sorts. two kittens are yellow - like the big yellow testosteroney he-cat next door. two kittens are black - like the big black testosteroney he-cat next door. four kittens. one can assume two daddies. HARLOT.

i come home from my meeting sunday evening and kittens and nitro cat are in a big cardboard box on my back porch. i am all but certain i made it clear to all involved to "leave the kittens where you find them." and i AM certain they did not find them in a box on my back porch.

so much for my authority around here.

sam is allergic cats. her eyes are all but swollen shut when i see her next. lovely. so much for the effectiveness of weekly allergy shots and professional massages of her sinuses.
i forbid her to touch, smell or look at the kittens ever again. as if that will do any good.

savvy on the other hand - my child that is allergic only to cheap jewelry - is all over the kittens. from the minute she wakes up till the moment she is drug off to bed. they are named and she has planned out each of their little cat lives for them.

and this morning - while we were eating breakfast - i made pancakes - nitro cat took off with one of her babies. or so we thought.

found it later behind the rake on the back porch. poor baby. i hoped nitro cat had taken the hint and moved her babies back the barn.

at least then someone, albeit the cat, would be listening to me...

no caption necessary

symmetrical

my five year old daughter told me today that butterfly wings are symmetrical when they are the same.

and this is not the only BIG word in her vocabulary she uses appropriately - in fact appropriate is one of her frequently used words. consequences is another she understands and can utilize in daily conversation.

and she's such a girly girl - not a nerdy nerd (not that there's anything wrong with that).

methinks i have my hands full now and a life of challenge on the horizon.

the only saving grace - in my mind - is what a wonderful combination - beauty AND brains.

the boys won't even see it coming...

all smiles flashing, eyelashes batting and curls bouncing and then BAM!
she spits out the equation necessary to determine the exact flow of nitrous oxide on their ride to hit 60 mph in 3.97 seconds.

they will all fall hopelessly in love and not even know what hit them.
of course - unless one of them is a crown prince - they stand no shot whatsoever...


Sorry for all the shameless mother babble - she just blew me over when she said "symmetrical" this morning. my mind ran away with me...

Dead Dead Dead

there is a cricket in my house.
it kept me up all FREAKING night long with it's incessant chirping.

"pretend you are camping" hubby tells me.
i don't like camping - they don't have room service.

every single time i put my foot on the floor to go locate the SOB - he/she/it SHUTS UP.

SMART SOB...

when i find he/she/it,

he/she/it will be Dead Dead Dead!!!

have i made myself clear?!