She did it. The sister is married to the trucker.

I'm on my way home.

Hooray all around.

Oh, don't worry, I didn't PLAY in the volleyball tournament. PB did, though, and he did great! His team finished 3rd in the finals!

This weekend I'm off to my sister's wedding. That means tonight I'm doing lots of laundry and getting pet meds ready so I can be ready to go before the last minute.

So hang in there. Soon, there will be lots of pictures and shenanigans from the King Family Circus!

I have exciting things this weekend, folks. Well, exciting for me anyway.

First off, tomorrow is hair day! Whoo hoo! After struggling to find a new hairdresser, I have a friend who started dating one. Perfect! Not only do I get a great haircut, I get the "You're dating my friend" discount. Fabulous. Besides, it's time to get fabulous hair for my sister's wedding next weekend.

And PB and I are going out of town this weekend. We'll be headed to a volleyball tournament near Petersburg. While it's only about an hour and a half away, we've decided to make a weekend of it and stay in a hotel Friday and Saturday night. That way we don't have to worry about getting up too early, and will be able to stay late for the bands. Besides, the same hairdresser mentioned up there has a sweet connection at Marriott, and we're staying for el cheapo rates! Double perfect. Now, I failed to mention this is the same tournament I hurt my back at last year. Minus 10.

Tonight, as I was walking Pooh around the complex (and Fluffy was following us) a man pulled up in a little silver convertible sports car. "I just have to ask... Is that your cat?" He was laughing that he'd seen Fluffy follow me around for several days and just assumed that she was mine and I was walking her, along with the dog, for exercise. "No sir, she's a wild cat that lives here." "Really? She doesn't look wild." "Go ahead and try to touch her." At that, the man decided against the obvious test to check a cat's wildness and decided to trust me. Fluffy was unphased by all this and just kept walking along. She's a cool kitty like that.

My trip to the dentist wasn't so bad. I wound up only needing a new filling instead of a crown. As PB pointed out, I like tiaras better than crowns anyway. After only about 2 hours at the dentist (they were working on me inbetween sedating and working on a patient with an emergency) I was on my way home. Not too shabby. In anticipation of an all day affair, I had taken the day off. I have another appointment at 4.

I made a quiche (ah, the successful experiment) and when that's done, I'm going to settle in for a nap. It's a cool, rainy day just made for napping!

A funny thing started happening this week... Fluffy is going on walks with Pooh King and me. She waits under a car near my building, then follows us around the whole walk, just like Fat Louie did before he went to live in CT. (You remember, back when he was still Diego.) Anyway, she stays within 5-10 feet of us and talks the whole way. Today she even came up to the second floor to lay on the welcome mat in front of my door. I don't know what her deal is, since this is totally new behavior. She's always been "around" at the apartments, but has never followed me. It's like she's trying to tell me that Timmy's in the well.

Oh, sometimes bedrest isn't so bad. Watching movies from the couch is fantastic bedrest activity... especially if The Force comes to watch with you, and PB makes dinner.

Pooh King is very much enjoying this "bedrest" thing I'm on. He votes it continue indefinitely.

Oh yea, baby, I'm dangerously good looking in a hospital gown. That's right, I brought sexy back to the hospital today.

If you Google "myelogram" you will find everything from respectable university sites to "thisprocedurekilledmymama.com". I highly suggest reading only the respectable sites as they'll only mildly freak you out. The others will scare you into staying inside your apartment for weeks.

In truth, it wasn't a whole lot worse than the epidural injections were. Well, the injection of the dye wasn't much worse... what they do to spread the dye out was definitely worse. I had to lie on my belly but slightly rotated and have my right leg propped out like a frog. This is not a fun position to be in, none the less hold for about 30 minutes while they injected dye. But seriously, then the radiology tech, Angie (sweet in that country way) had to tip the table down, then stand me up, then I had to roll left and right, then down, then up, then I had to bend forward and arch back, all while they took x-rays to make sure the dye was spreading where the doc needed it to go. Then it was off to CT. Thankfully that only took about 12 minutes because they could only prop my knees up so far and it didn't feel so good to lie there, either.

Then there was my friend Percocet. I only took one, and I wasn't dopey or sleepy, but I was more comfortable than I had been in a long time. I think I need some Percocet, especially in light of the upcoming nuptials in Colorado. That's a rough plane ride.

But for this weekend? Amanda the Awesome Petsitter is giving Pooh King all the fast walking he can handle. I'm lying down for a movie-fest that won't be rivaled until, well, at least October 29, and the menu of choice is macaroni and cheese, chicken pot pies, and pancakes. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, comfort food.

And now I need a crown on one of my molars.

Double shit.

Ummm, yes, I am into public humiliation. And experimentation. And experimenting with public humiliation. Take for example, my foray into my dream job... professional stylist. If you are my boyfriend and complain that you really need to get your hair cut every two weeks, but can't afford it, you should realize that I can do math. And as often as you've said it's soooooooooo easy to cut your hair, that I will try to do it. If I can buy a "professional" barber set for $20, those clippers will pay themselves off in 2 haircuts or less. And I will do it.

See how excited he is to have me cut his hair? I mean, I could barely get him to sit still! I asked him if he was nervous to let me cut his hair. "Ummm, yes. I'm about to play my guitar in front of a couple hundred people, and you've never really done this before." Yes I have, I cut a student PT's hair once when his hair began to resemble a mullet. Clearly, I have experience.












Before...
During...


















More during...

And now you have... Blue Steel.

***Editor's note: PB would like everyone to know that he is not actually certifiably insane, as the first picture may indicate. Also, he does have arms. No, seriously, he does.

Experiment night.

I tried my hand at quiche-making this weekend. Thanks to http://www.epicurean.com/ and the local grocery store, I did pretty well!
My first two endeavors were a spinach and mushroom quiche, and a crab and asparagus quiche.

My premade pie shell filled with crab-asparagus-eggy goodness.

The golden yummy goodness of a well-baked quiche. No runny stuff here!

The finished product, served with a green salad, just as epicurean.com suggested. It looks great, but I offered to buy a pizza if it sucked, just in case.

PB says it's tasty! He ate the hell out of the crab quiche, and we both declared the spinach-mushroom best for breakfast. I have several more recipes to try, 'cause man, I do love a quiche!

In my vain effort to sell my gas guzzling SUV, Tough Lucy Dodge, I had to go renew her state inspection. I knew going in the high beams weren't working (which automatically makes you fail the inspection) so I asked the guys at the shop to take a look. Sure enough, that was the only problem for the whole truck. The guys at the shop tried new bulbs, then tried installing a new multi-function switch. Nothing. They didn't even charge me for the time it took to install then remove the news switch and put my old switch back in. They apologized that they couldn't fix it because the only thing left to fix was a computer panel and that I would need to take it to a dealer where they had the diagnostic systems. Yeah, they didn't charge me because they felt bad knowing how much $$ it was about to cost me to fix the truck. And they were right. $544 later I can go back to teh shop to pay $1 to have it reinspected for it's "pass" status. Nuts.

Today I took Pooh over to my friend's barn for a little out of the apartment time. He ran around like a maniac. About 15 minutes after we got there, he comes tearing around from behind the barn covered from head to tail in horse shit. Thanks a lot.

A MEME FROM Brico


A-Z Meme



A - Available/Single? Nope. Sorry boys, all this hotness is taken.

B - Best Friend? I have several! My inner circle is tight!

C- Cake or Pie? It depends on what kind of each. There's a pecking order.

E - Essential Item You Use Everyday? Toothbrush. 3 times a day. Seriously. I heart these teeth.

F - Favorite Colour? All of them.

G - Gummy Bears Or Worms? I just threw up in my mouth. I hate gummy anything.

H - Hometown? I don't really have one. We moved several times when I was a kid.

I - Indulgence? Lots and lots of air conditioning!

J - January Or February? JANUARY! Specifically the 27th. Feel free to send presents.

K - Kids & Their Names? Only the 4-legged variety: Pooh (dog), Otis and Oz (cats).

L - Life Is Incomplete Without? Friends.

M - Marriage Date? To be announced.

N- Number Of Siblings? Older brother, younger sister.

O - Oranges Or Apples? Most of the time oranges. Apples only if they're tart and not mushy.

P - Phobias/Fears? Birds... especially chickens. Apparently Vicodan and tequila will drown this fear. Of note, from this incident came a chicken named Tiffany. According to my sister, she will sometimes just stand and flap her wings and sqwak for no good reason. Don't you judge her.

Q - Favorite Quote? I have lots. "Check out the big brain on Brad." is usually amongst them.

R - Reason to Smile? I don't work on Friday!

S - Season? Fall or Spring - Fall. Cooler temperatures and beautiful leaves.

T - Tag Three People? I don't tag. If you'd like to do it, please let us know so we can check.

U - Unknown Fact About Me? I stalk people on Facebook.

V - Vegetable you don’t like? Just one? Lima Beans!!!! Totally agree with Brico on this one. Ick.

W - Worst Habit? I swear too much.

X - X-rays You’ve Had? My left knee's been done a few times, my back's been very popular lately.

Y - Your Favorite Food? Sushi or Thai

Z - Zodiac Sign? Aquarius



**Of note, D was missing when I got the meme!

Okay, I got up at 5. I walked the dog. I rode the bike. I worked 10 hours.

Is 8:26 too early to go to bed? Just askin'.

Meet The Edge.

Seriously. That's what I'm calling the bike. Of course, it has stickers all over it that say "Edge," so it wasn't that hard. But really, it's "The Edge" because of the U2 drummer. I get up most morning to ride The Edge for 30 minutes before I go to work. Ugh.

Oh, and in other exciting news... for my test next Friday, I'm having dye injected into my spinal canal. Not only do I need a ride home from the procedure, I have to be on BED REST for the rest of that day, and ALL of Saturday! WTF?!?! Bed rest? When I questioned the radiology tech about all this bed rest nonsense she simply stated, "Well, it's the best way to keep all of your spinal fluid from leaking out of you afterward." Oh, well, that doesn't sound like a good option at all. So I guess I'll be renting some movies before I go so I can lie very, very still while bringing sexy back all day on Saturday. My wonderful petsitter will come to walk Pooh King during my down time, 'cause I love him, but that dog does not = bed rest!

Happy Birthday Otis! Since Pooh and Oz both have birthdays on major holidays (Jan 1, and July 4, respectively), Otis gets to have a holiday-birthday, too. Since Labor Day is consistent with the timeline of his birth, we picked it. Also, there aren't anymore holidays any time soon. He gets the bonus of having a birthday that fluctuates dates every year. He feels very special!
He started his big day with a roar.
Ozzie decided to join in the fun.
Otis went on the march to get weighed. He likes to know how much he's gained since he came to Casa de Crazy Cat Lady.
Otis decided that his 14.2 pound self needed a nap for his birthday!

And now, just 'cause it's cool...

This is the praying mantis PB spotted on the railing outside my apartment. I got close to take the pictures, and he looked at me as I moved around. Then I quit because I was afraid he was going to attack me just like in "Kung Fu Panda". I bid Mantis good night before I had to throw my ninja cat right at his face.