{She Said} Dinner is Served

Sometimes when my husband gets home from a long day, welcoming him home is my priority.  Maybe next time I should put the main course on the back  burner before the smoke alarm dinner bell brings me back to the domestic tasks, eh? 

 Dinner. May 2009, Portland.

{Yeah. The leaping flames were rather impressive. As for the stovetop, the hazmat cleanup crews have been summoned.}

{She Said} Wrong Side of the Bed

People, I am just going to come right out and say it: I am not a morning person.
I have discovered through my 5:30 am  {sometimes earlier} wakeup call that morning is:

         1) An inexcusable affront to the senses. 

2) A rotten way to start the day. 

Husband and I have established a workable method of survival {for him} / a relatively non-hostile compromise {for me}. When I have to pry myself from the warm cocoon of a soft pillow and the blessed embrace of a mountainous down comforter to put my feet on that cold, hard {and I swear deliberately chilled} floor, there is a volatile mix of tired and certifiable crankiness brewing in my countenance.

The Husband, who is no dummy, is practiced in the art of leaving me alone for the first 15 minutes.  For 15 precious minutes,  there is blessed silence to allow me a bit of acclimatization to that outside world.  I am not responsible for whatever reprehensible thoughts course through my mind.

But.

Then Husband gets into the shower.
Which is where he sings all kinds of happy songs.

And sometimes, in my sleep-addled rage, I want to fling open the shower curtain and smite  all that early morning happiness.






Can you tell someone woke up feeling like a little crab-cake today?
My kingdom for a nap.

{She Said} Why My Mother-In-Law Rocks:

Because she worked awfully hard to get this guy here.  And today is the anniversary of said labor of love (I couldn't resist). 

Happy Birthday, Darlin'!

Bart in Woodburn, OR ~ April 2010

Without further ado, I'm going to go spank that birthday boy. 

Separated at birth

{The blog has been intermittently napping as of late. I haven't found my groove since we've been back from our recent vacay. It was bliss to be away from everything and to have my best pal with me. You see, we've been working fairly solidly since we moved here last July...so I've been basking in the afterglow of that long-awaited time away.}

One of my favorite parts of the road trip was a morning spent in Point Lobos State Park on the California coast. The harbor seals and their pups were tucked away in a little nursery cove, basking on the beach.  Otters were slicing through the waves with their pups, doing their otter thing, looking ridiculously cute and intelligent. And there, good people, is where we found my fat cat's doppelganger: 

Harbor seal pup, Point Lobos, CA ~ April 2010

Seriously, the resemblance is uncanny....

Sallie Cat ~ August, 2009

Bart's observation of the baby seal: "Oh suuuure...fat rolls are cute if they're covered in fur. What about the rest of us?"

I believe that's the million dollar question, babe.