Friday, January 17, 2014

Finishing up the week with some fabulous finds and final thoughts.



1.       Meet George.  Long story short: just after we moved into this house a cat hoarder was evicted just up the road but all the cats were not collected by the pound.  So the neighborhood found itself overrun with 50+ cats; two of which landed at our back patio.  They must have read the sign, you know the one; it’s neon red with an arrow pointing at our house that reads “Cat lovers/suckers live here!”  Because we were “pet full” we didn’t take them in but I feed them (refer back to that sign).  This was about 8 to 9 years ago.  After ~3 years my husband decided it needed a name and called it “George” (this comes from that quote, “I’ll hug him and squeeze him and call him George.”)  George is one of the lone survivors and there are times when he disappears for as long as 18 months then will just show up again.  I feed him milk and food, scratch him behind the ear and tell him I’m glad to see him.  We don’t know where he “lives” but we know he is a survivor as he is declawed.  He must have a very formidable guardian angel watching over him!

2.      My crazy Christmas cactus decided to send out two more blooms this week.



3.      One of the unexpected pleasures of swapping is building friendships and exchanging passions with people you may never meet.  This wonderful package of fabric arrived this week from Diane.  I want to learn to start sewing in my journal and these swatches will be perfect!



4.      We do not have an IHOP where we live.  With the long days of winter stretching endlessly before us, small road trips help us pass the time.  Last Saturday we decided a visit to IHOP was in order.


5.      It was Educator’s Weekend so we stopped in a Barnes and Nobles.  I found this cute ORBit Relaxation Lamp.  I love quirky, fun stuff like this and with a 25% discount I simply could not resist bringing it home.  I had a difficult time getting a shot of all the different color changes. 


*One extra: I stumbled upon this book at the library.  It is a fun, quick read but rather inspirational.

**A Follow up:  Two weeks ago I commented about the dyer balls.  One of them went AWAL this week.  The mystery continues.

It has been a challenging week.  The students were wild after having that extra week off.  It was difficult getting them to focus on preparing for final exams.  Yesterday alone there were 5 fights.  I found myself getting very frustrated, wanting to teach but not being able to because of the steady stream of interruptions.  Of all weeks, the-powers-that-be decided this would be a good week to have an assembly the second day back!  Seriously!?  Finals are next week!  I remind myself “I just work here” and carry on the best way I can.  It’s a sad state of affairs when teachers are in their survival mode this early in the game. 

I am looking forward to the weekend.  Thinking another short road trip may be in order, especially since it is a 3-day weekend.  I don’t have any ideas as to where to go.  The North American Auto Show is in Detroit but I find myself liking crowds less these days.  Perhaps I will follow Sarah at Paisley Rain Boots  lead and take a photo walk.  Will have to check the weather forecast but getting outside for short hike maybe just what my sanity needs.

What are your plans for this extended weekend?  If you have any advice for me as to something I could do please share it in the comments below.  I would love to hear it. 


21 comments:

  1. Hi Diane, I'm not sure I've stopped in before but am so glad I did today! :) I also have a sign on my door that says the same thing. Three years ago an abandoned pub cat found us at West Cottage and Robert tried to refuse him entry but the minute i got to England he was ours. And, as much as I call everything George for exactly the same reason, we found out his mane is Theo and so there it was. We now own three cats in two countries. Crazy life...lol. Loving your IHOP breakfast. I was in San Fran a couple of months ago and stopped in for breakfast. Yummy to the max. Good thing I walk up and down those hill all day and walked those calories off...I think. also loving the mood lamp. In England we have one of those 1970 rotating fiber optic lamps. It's somehow really peaceful to stare at, so I completely understand, and, it seems needed after the weeks you're having with the students. UGH. Chloe has just started the second semester of her fourth year CNMS and is going a little crazy with work, and has 11 more intense weeks to get thru before finals. Hope you have a brilliant and relaxing weekend and no thoughts of students at all. :)

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    1. I believe cats were given an extra sense, smelling cat lovers from miles away! thank you so much for sharing your story with me, always good to know there are others out there going through the same things you are. I appreciate your stopping by my blog this week!

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  2. You've adopted a good attitude about your work... just go with the flow!

    Thanks for the work that you do -- it's so important. And thank you for joining in at R5F this week Diane. xo

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    1. Thank you so much for hosting R5F! It has helped me tremendously. I find myself looking for positive/humorous happenings during the week to share. I look forward to sharing them at the end of an often demanding week. I appreciate your stopping by my blog this week.

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  3. That George is quite the survivor. The stories he could tell of his life of traveling.

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    1. Your response gave me a wonderful idea! Perhaps I can write a short story of his travels, incorporating what I know about him from his visits with us. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog this week!

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  4. do you think your "washer ball" is stuck to something? clothing some where? i was so embarrassed to hear that my hubby was at work & a dryer sheet fell out of his pants ... luckily it was not underwear or something else??! ( :

    or light - is that for mood lighting or to help with sad/depressing times - like winter. i know a lot of folks are effected by winter & less sun.

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    1. The culprit is generally my teenage son. The ball will get into a sleeve of a shirt and it might stay hidden in there for months. Dryer sheets seem to cling in mysterious and odd places. The ORBit Relaxation lamp is to help one unwind but also has a natural spectrum white light for reading. I like it but wish it ere a tad bit larger. Thank you for stopping my and sharing your story.

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  5. Sounds like George is a survivor indeed! We have a sign outside our house that says "Barbour Buffett. All animals welcome." :-) Our Chase Bird was a stray that showed up and picked us. Eight years later, I don't know what we'd do without him!

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    1. I truly believe the best cats are the ones that adopt you! Some of our best cats have been strays that decided we were "good enough" for them to live with. I do worry about George when the weather gets so cold or when tornadoes come through. He has survived this long so I believe his guardian angel is really looking out for him. Thank you so much for stopping by.

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  6. Imagine the stories George could tell .... endless!
    That light looks quite interesting!
    Swaps sound wonderful ... I need to find some!
    Have a great weekend!
    diane @ aug's blog

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    1. I stumbled upon Swap-bot last June and it was a life-changer! I cannot imagine my life without creating and sharing with other like-minded people. It was there that I created my 1st ATC, 1st PC, 1st shared journal,1st scrapbook page... I create things that a year ago I would NEVER have attempted let alone give to some one else. It's free to join. Perhaps it may open a new creative door for you as well. Thank you so much for stoppng by.

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  7. We have one of those 'idiot lives here' signs on our house, too.

    IHOP is one of my favorite restaurants...specially for breakfast. Almost always get breakfast when we go there no matter what the time of day.

    Love that light you got!

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    1. That IHOP was just recently built. I am rather thankful it is a distance away otherwise my husband would want to go there every week. I prefer it to remain somewhat of a treat. The light makes me smile and I use it while I'm winding down at night during my journal time. It really does seem to help calm me. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog this week.

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    1. They were delicious! I tried not to think about the calories I was devouring. Thank you so much for stopping by.

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  9. Your Christmas cactus is giving you a last hurrah.

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    1. That crazy cactus did that last year as well. The funny thing is, it starts blooming around Halloween and never makes it to Christmas. Thank you for stopping by my blog this week!

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  10. I love Barnes and Noble we don't have them in the UK but when we visited the US we loved our morning coffee there.

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    1. I actually love Boarders Books but when all their stores closed we were forced to start going to B & N. The store in our city is not as nice, smaller selection and doesn't offer many of the fun things like the lamp I found. Probably a good thing as that would mean I would spend more money! Thank you for stopping by this week.

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  11. Let me tell you about MY crazy cactus! Its buds began to set in mid-September. By Halloween, several blooms were open. It bloomed for about 3 weeks. Then I noticed it set buds again and opened its first bloom of round 2 on Christmas day!! I've never had that happen before but I'd be tickled if it continued. My African violet is in-bloom almost year 'round. But sadly, neither of the amaryllis have done well. I'm not sure what has happened. They're about 3' tall. One with no buds. The other, one bud, and I don't think it's going to open.

    Thank you for visiting Plum Hollow. You've a nice blog.

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