Project Complete ... Waiting for Cat.

Here's the whole wall of cat steps from the window platform.

A cat's eye view up to the window platform.



A cat's eye view up to the ceiling platform.

There I am done. Hopefully Cat will thank me by using it!

Cass :)

Of projects and mishaps and a reluctant cat.

Okay so two days ago I was looking at Cat Condos when I came upon this site ... "Coool!" I said and shared the link with my friend Kitty whom I was IMing with. We both agreed it was cool(she has 8 cats - I have 1) but I took it a step further and said "I could make something just like that for less!" and I started right away. I was in tears and highly discouraged by the end of the day ... I had implemented my idea badly and would have to take everything down and fix the problems. War wounds : One hammered finger and a blister from putting in 40 screws.

Today was another day ... I went to early swim with the kids and asked my Mom to take us on a couple of errands(she had taken me out to the hardware store yesterday as well) ... she graciously agreed and off we went. I picked up the stuff I needed and went back to work on my project. Once again I have everything up but I see I have to re-enforce the first step(even with plugs it's just not holding) and I have to fix on of my platforms properly to the wall.

Ah well ... tomorrow is another day. Day three of my Cat Wallk project and I'm not even sure if the dang cat will even use it!

Cass :)

K comes home and I clean up the house ...

Yeah I know K has been home since Thursday, she was actually waiting for us when my om drove A, M & I home after our visit with her after Early Swim. She had a great time, of course, and was glad to be home. My shorter and coloured hair was a huge surprise to her but she later said I looked like a teenager :) Have I mentioned how much I love my oldest child?

A is much the same; drawing tons and talking non-stop. Early Swim is a nice break as he spends most of his time underwater since he discovered goggles let him go underwater without the whole chlorine is brining my eyes out deal. He's also still very sensitive and a bit of a fit thrower like his mother.

M has improved somewhat with her choices of where to pee ... I remain hopeful.

J and I are reading the latest Harry Potter book ... or rather he has read it and now it's my turn so I am reading it and playing my Sims game as well. I spent a good chunk of today cleaning ... or rather tidying. I'll actually clean for the rest of the week but first I had to find the dirty surfaces of my home. I also gave the kids a wake up call; They will help from now on, whether they like it or not. K already helps with very little prodding but I've not really worked with A and M to teach them how to help me keep our home clean.

Tomorrow is Early Swim once again so I will leave it there. I have to get some sleep and I'm pretty sure M is rattling around upstairs causing trouble ... she took a late nap(aka she fell asleep on her bed after yet another crying fit because someone said she couldn't do something) and now clearly can't fall asleep *sigh*

Cass :)

Picture Blog - My trip to the Hairdresser's :)

So today I went to get my hair dyed for the first time in my life ... okay it was a big deal for me. I brought along the camera and had the hairdresser take pictures and I took some as well. I didn't go for a full dye just streaks or highlights in a nice red. I think it turned out pretty good but it will take a little getting used to!


Here we are leaving my place...the kids are saying "C'mon Mom!" :)


I had to take a shot of my backyard...I love all the trees and green.


M didn't want to go in the stroller she wanted to walk, but with only 15 minutes to get to my appointment she had to ride.


Bye bye house ...


Cannibal rag doll(aka Good Luck rag doll) says "Arrrr!" A made this doll and loves it ... he drew the face and I taped it on ... he used to have a much nicer less sharp toothy face.


The dreaded bridge hill ...


One of my fave weeds.


"Psst!! You has keys?" ask the kittens in the window ... my homage to this website :)


Wasting no time; once I got to the hairdresser's D slapped this thing on my head ...


.... and then used a crochet hook to pull hair thru the holes in the cap. That didn't really hurt ...


... then she put on the dye and another bag ...



... and tossed me under a dryer.


Evil Boy gets in my way as M starts her haircut ...



M kept that same concerned look through-out the trim job
but didn't cry or anything. I was so proud.


All done! Fake smile for Mommy!




The kids goof off :)


I'm all done ... here's a shot to show the colour at it's best.


Some tracks near my place and another shot of high summer green.


Cool funky clouds!


Home again!

So there you have it ... all in pictures. *lol* Only I would put such terrible pictures of myself up, huh? Let me know what you think of my new do ... but remember ... if you can't think of anything nice ...

Cass :)

Snip, snip, rip, rip ... Is this worth it?

So I was off to the hairdresser's again today and I got a bunch of my hair cut off. It's a short layered deal that will be out of my way and I like it :There now none of you who know me will be shocked or anything :) I think it expresses my personality well and I just finished making another appointment with my hairdresser for Monday morning to get some highlights put in ... I'm thinking a mahogany or burgundy streaks, we'll see. My hair has gotten so dark, almost black, since I entered my 30s that I am sick of it just looking like a formless blob on my head. I've never dyed my hair so figured I'd go with a pro the first time(sorry L, I guess we'll have to stick to dinners ... when are we due again?).

My hairdresser is after me to get my eyebrows shaped as well ... at this point I'm going to be dropping money with her almost every month for something ... either facial waxing or streaking or haircuts. *sigh* I feel better but am still not sure if it's worth the money, I guess it is since I do feel more attractive(although that may be more of an inside thing than an outside reality since I was the only one that was really bothered by my mustache, or always tied back hair, or thick eyebrows, or single shade hair ...) with the newer clothes I have as well I feel much more put together and more at ease. I guess if I'm doing all this for anyone it has to be for me.

It's funny how things change as you get older ... the idea of grey hair has never really bothered me but I have hated my mustache since I was 16 and I have always liked the idea of more red in my hair. I never thought I would be off to the hairdresser once every 6-8 weeks to have stuff done(let alone stuff that hurts!) but here I am. Go figure. I also never thought I would be this heavy or the mother of three children(how the heck did that happen?!) or in my 30s! I'm hoping the new look will help encourage me to stick with my "go to the Y everyday the kids have school" plan for the fall ... just the daily walk will make a huge difference in my weight I'm sure! Sticking to it will be another story especially when it's really cold or raining or I just don't feel like it.

Yeah, this getting older thing? Not for the weak willed I can see ... and I'm just starting out!!

Cass :)

Of Moving and Family...

I was talking to my Sister-in-law yesterday and after telling her my Mom had moved realized I hadn't Blogged about this(so she hadn't heard) ... I've been Blogging about my Mom a lot recently because of all the wonderful stuff she has been doing and I never thought to Blog about the backlash of her good fortune.

First the background stuff:

My Mom is one of 8 kids. She has 6 brothers(One died of cancer a couple of years ago - so I should say 5) and a sister. Three of her brothers are doing quite well for themselves, possibly four, I don't keep track. I do however know that two of her brothers that live in my area are doing quite well. Once of them is B. B owns the house that my grandparents live in the walkout basement of. Several years ago my grandfather begged my Mom to come and live with him and grandma to help out. My Mom, loving her own mother, agreed even though she doesn't always get along all that well with her father. So there they were for several years. One summer Mom came to stay with me for a whole month to make it clear to grandpa just how much she did around there(he kicked her out as well) and again he begged her to come back. Mom did, because grandma needed her. There was still the issue of her and grandpa not getting along but being a daughter myself I understood why she put up with it to be there for her mom.

Recently grandpa went away with some of his sons for a men's camping trip or some such he must have spent the entire time complaining about Mom because when they got back Mom came home from work to a note from B telling her he wants her out 'immediately' nothing about grandma and grandpa just Mom. When Mom confronted her father about it he refused to give her a straight answer so Mom found herself a place to live and moved on July 1st(grandpa helped - Mom thinks to get her out quicker, I tend to agree) I helped her move as well. She is now all settled into her new place and the money she won went to finance the buying of stuff to furnish said place. Mom is happy because she has nice new stuff and a place of her own again, grandpa is happy because now his willful daughter is no longer under his feet and I am happy because Mom is happy, and B is happy because now he won't have to listen to grandpa complain about Mom anymore ... who isn't happy? Grandma because now she's going to be alone way more - this, sadly, is her own fault for not speaking up and standing up for her daughter.

It's a good thing this happened when it did since Mom had the money to manage the move and set up of her own place easily otherwise I hate to think how hard it would have all been. Although coming to stay with me is always an option for my Mom(as she knows) the house is very small and sharing a room with a 6 year old boy is pretty much the only option ... either that or with an 11 year old and 3 year old girl(then their room would be ALL beds). Very crowded in other words.

A short note about my family - I really don't like or speak to most of them. I have my own personal reasons for this and the very fact I keep them out of my life makes my life an easier more peaceful place to be. I keep in touch with my Sister-in-law, a cousin, my Mom, and sometimes even my father(although only sporadically) to be honest the other adult members of my family are not in my thoughts or my heart most of the time. They have all done things to me personally or to my Mom that I find unforgivable and unforgettable. I'm just as happy to forget they exist the majority of the time.

And that's all I've got to say about that.

Cass :)

Problem solved ... dilemmas in everyday life.

I am constantly solving problems as a person and a mother and housewife. In the past I have come up with stuff that has impressed other people. After all there is talk of something that is the Mother of invention ... no one ever mentions a Father ... which leads me to believe a lot of the really good ideas out there were originally from women only we didn't get the credit for it. Of course you must all remember I am a female chauvinist and have a hard time with the idea that most men are useful for much more than recreation(my dear J is a shining exemption to this by the way).

One solution I have come up with is:

Plastic weather cover blowing up and your dear baby getting a face full of cold air or rain? Velcro tabs placed on the cover and the frame of your stroller will fix that! Then the cover is easily fastened down.

A lot of moms loved that one.

I've come up with other stuff; I have shelves I put up with rope and nails all over my basement ... you can put them up on flat walls as well if you can find two studs and are willing to hammer a couple nails into the wall*grin*. Most of mine are hung from the exposed floor joists in the ceiling. A lot of my solutions are quick and dirty and involve hammering nails into stuff, it drives J nuts I'm sure but keeps him from getting nagged by me to do it properly.

What brought all this on? Well it was my new king duvet that brought it on. I've been struggling with it to get it properly into the duvet cover ... I thought I had already solved this problem by cutting up a soft fabric belt that came with a pair of my new shorts(it looked terrible with them) and making it into ties in the corner to tie it into the cover but I was still having trouble with it and the bed didn't look as nice as it should.

I was thinking about it this morning while I was trying to take a nap and the kids were jumping on the bed ... the bed had looked particularly bad this morning and I could tell that the duvet just wasn't in the cover right. So I decided to sew some lengths of yarn along the edges to hold the duvet into the cover better than just the four corner ties were holding it. Once I got done with one edge I realized what the real problem was ... I had put the duvet into the cover wrong. I went back and snipped the yarn loops off and turned it and everything lined up perfectly ... I still did the yarn loops around the outer edge and then turned the duvet cover back inside right and remade my bed. Now it looks great :) Of course I may end up cursing those loops if I ever have to clean the cover. *chuckle*

So now I feel all smart again *grin* I'm sure it won't last but I'll enjoy it while it does.

Cass :)