Friday Five

1. So, there was an election this week. And, enough about that!

2. We had a hurricane a few weeks ago, and boy, were we lucky. Our area didn't end up getting hit very hard by it, and we only lost power for two hours.

3. Moving on to something fun... Gus! I meant to have a special post when Gus had been with us for one year...but was caught up in my overly busy life and didn't get around to it. Work was so busy for a few months that I barely managed to do anything at home except for the bare essentials. Since I'm sure your curious minds want to know, August 5th marked one full year of our amazing kitty, Gus, joining our little family. He really is a great cat. I'm so thankful that my dog-loving husband actually loves our cat. A lot. Woot!

4. I can't believe its November already. How did that happen? It seems like last week was only July. I guess time flies when you are super busy. At least that means the holidays are around the corner. Love Thanksgiving. Love Christmas. Sure, it can be stressful, but I love time with family, friends, and food.

5. Speaking of things that are just around the corner...our 10th wedding anniversary is less than two months away. Wow. It somehow feels longer than that and not that long all at the same time. Ten years. Amazing stuff!

Birthday Boy

3 month old cutie pie

Someone is one year old today!

Doing one of his favorite things - napping

I can't believe my kitty is already one and that we've had him for 10 months! What a blessing he has been to us. He gives us endless amounts of laughter, entertainment, and as much love as a non-lapcat can.

Love that soft belly!

I never thought I would be one of those people. You know, the ones that spoil their pet to pieces and treat them like a kid? Yeah. That. I am actually finding that I don't care at all if people think of me that way, because Gus has been so good for me - more so than I imagined.

Be still my heart

What birthday would be complete with presents? None! I found a birdie on a string toy that Gus is sure to love. I also found a bag like thing, that is soft to the tough but crinkles when moved. And it also makes a bird noise! Gus loves bags, crinkly things, and all things birdie. I can't wait to try this out! Since I can't give him cake... We've never given him a wet cat food. Well, I bought a small can of Blue Buffalo salmon! I can't wait to see if he loves it.

Blue eyes

Happy birthday, my sweet furry one! I love you!

Happy birthday, my sweet kitty boy

Friday Five

1. The night before we left on vacation, there was a huge storm. Rusty was asleep and I was beginning to doze off when I began to hear the sounds of a storm. At first I dismissed it as a normal thunderstorm, but the howling wind kept getting louder and louder. I sat up in bed, unease giving way to worry. Rusty stirred and I asked him, "Do you hear that?" I got out of bed and grabbed my iPhone to look up local weather warnings as the wind continued to roar.

"Is that a tornado," Rusty wondered out loud? That's all I needed to hear. I speed walked to that bathroom, still fumbling with my iPhone in search of information. The wind raged as I sat shaking in the still damp tub with Rusty crouched beside me. I prayed for safety as branches and twigs hit the roof for what felt like an eternity. The power went out at some point. As the terrible wind finally died down, I had the presence of mind to find our local news station's website on my iPhone and touch Listen Live.

I used the light of my iPhone to find the camping light we had recently purchased on a whim (or what it?) which Rusty then used to find our big flashlight. He walked around our house, checking for damage and then shone the powerful flashlight out the front and rear doors. We had lost the top half of one of our 100' tall trees. Thank you, Lord, that the tree fell in the yard and not on our house. We shut the house up tight and let Gus out of his room, since we were now wide awake.

According to the news, there were no tornadoes, just a crazy storm with 80 mph straight winds. We got power back on late the next day (Saturday) before we had to leave on vacation (thank you, God). And the tree? It would have to wait until we got home from vacation in...

2. ...Virginia Beach! Ah, yes. I love getting away for a few days where the biggest decision is whether to start our day by floating in the pool or enjoying the beach. We all need that kind of relaxation every now and then, don't we?

3. The other important decisions while on vacation revolve around food. What should we do for lunch? PB&J in our room or eat out? Where should we go for dinner? Most of the places we went were successes. In fact, the only bomb was the Chinese place, where nearly everything was so overcooked it was nearly inedible. I still don't know what was in those deep-fried dumplings (they are supposed to be pan-fried, people, PAN-fried)! :shudder: (And no, I don't mean what kind of animal meat...they were meatless.)

All the other food we ate was fabulous - gyros and stuffed grape leaves at Ammos; topped crab flounder with a white wine lemon sauce at Il Giardino; steamed king crab legs at Captain George's, and table-side guacamole and fish tacos at the Side Street Cantina. Drool.

4. We came home on Thursday to a lonely 11-month old kitten, piles of laundry, and the tree in our front yard. On Saturday, Rusty and our brother-in-law, Barry, fired up chain saws while my father-in-law and I carried logs, limbs, and sticks. With their help, we got it completely cleaned up even though it was so hot I thought I was back in tropical Taiwan.

5. The only bad part about our vacation (beside the cost of it) is that Rusty ended up with swimmer's ear. Ouch! His right ear began hurting enough on Sunday to cause him to ask me to make him a doctor's appointment on Monday. That is saying something about the amount pain and irritation that Rusty felt, folks!

Friday Five

1. We've decided to change up Gus' room. Yes, our cat has a room. What? Doesn't every cat? We are going to be getting rid of the single bed in that room. It's not usuable with Gus in there anyway, so it's just taking up space and being generally useless. We are getting a new piece of kitty furniture - a nice tall cat tree. I bought some new plastic tubs to better organize the stuff in there. Gus loves jumping up on them, so it will be fine if they sit out in the room. Gus isn't spoiled. Nope!

2. We received a package in the mail from my mom this week containing some Heralife products. I'm looking forward to mixing up a bunch of different yummy shakes.

3. I helped organize a cornhole tournament at work this week. We had 32 teams sign up! Good times.

4. I had a horrible migraine this week. It was bad on Tuesday and terrible on Wednesday. It was mostly gone on Thursday (finally). I haven't had a migraine that bad in quite a while.

5. We are going on vacation soon. I'm really looking forward to it. And by that I mean, I'm counting the days. Ah yes, the pool, beach, and relaxation. Fun dinners out with Rusty. It cannot come soon enough. We need some time off in a bad way.

Friday Five

1. I think we finally had a birdie visit our new bird feeder on Wednesday. We heard Gus go a little nuts and then Rusty saw the feeder swinging back and forth. Yesterday afternoon Rusty saw a cardinal munching away. Finally some success!

2. It has been very cool this week with lows in the 50s and highs in the 70s. Wonderful! Glorious! Beautiful! It certainly doesn't feel like June in Maryland.

3. We decided to stop taking Gus outside until the weather cools off and the bugs die down (even though that is actually his favorite part). We were getting eaten alive out there! Also, we found three ticks in the span of 2 weeks, when neither Rusty nor I have ever had a problem with ticks around our house (even though we are surrounded by woods). We decided that it was the best thing for us and for Gus (even though Gus wouldn't agree). I was afraid that Gus would be inconsolable, but he's taking it like a champ. I suppose it helps that he's a cat and he therefore doesn't really know how long it's been since he's been out? It's not like he can tell time, right?

4. This week has been painfully slow. When the annoyingly loud alarm (which, by the way, has to be loud to wake me) jarred me awake Wednesday morning, I groaned inwardly thinking that it surely must be Thursday and not only Wednesday. (I'm not at all melodramatic in the wee hours of the morning.) Thursday wasn't any better - it felt like Friday. I imagine today will be, um, interesting?

5. We are going to a Thai restaurant for dinner tomorrow. Yum. Oh yum! One of my bosses was warming up a frozen dinner of the Thai variety earlier this week. I have been craving Thai ever since.

Gus vs. the Frenebee

It was spring.

The sun was warm and flowers were blooming.

Rusty opened windows throughout our house to let the pollen cool breeze float in. Gus did what kitties normally do when windows are open – he ran from one window to the other, sniffing at the tantalizing air.

Meanwhile, a bee was flying around outside near the flowerbed, enjoying whatever it is that a bee enjoys. It flitted about the side of our house until it flew up towards a window. It managed to find a small hole, and like most bees around our house, felt compelled to check it out. It crawled in and found itself inside a window sill. The bee couldn’t possibly know how dire its situation was about to become.

Gus, being a ferocious bug stalker/attacker, noticed the bee straight away and thought, “Bug! Must check out flying bug!” Gus slowly stalked towards the bee and lifted his face to the window so he could sniff at the bee. Then he slowly lifted a paw up to the bee, sniffing again at this very curious thing.

Rusty saw the scene unfolding and, worried the bee would hurt Gus, smacked it to the floor with his strong hand where it lay dazed and confused. Here is what happened next…

Gus: Thanks for taking the bug’s flying power away, daddy! It was fun while it was flying, but now I can get it even better! Ok, here I go…I'll crouch down so it doesn’t see me…flick tail…wiggle butt…aaaaaaand POUNCE! Ha! Gotcha! Now I shall pick you up in my mouth and spit you back out. Take that! And again! BOOYAH! Oh wait, where did you go? Come back here. I wasn’t done playing!

Scratchity scritchy scratch…

Rusty: Stop clawing at the duct vent cover, Gus. Stoppit! It’s bad enough you spit the bee out and it fell in through the vent cover, now stop scratching!

At least Gus didn't get stung.

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Other Frenebee Posts:
Flying Frenebee
Early Morning Frenebee
Neon Frenebee
Night Time Frenebee
The Mowing Frenebee

The Unintended Sabbatical

I suppose I have simply been caught up in life – not by anything all too exciting, mind you – just the normal everyday business of life. Work. Gym. Home. Errands. Walking the kitty on a leash around the yard (wait, not everyone does that?).

Has it really been a month since I last blogged? I haven’t even stuck with Taiwanese Tuesday or Friday Five posts, let alone ones about headaches or food or anything else! Wow, I have really been MIA. Sorry about that. I do hope to get back into blogging again. It’s not that hard, right (she says to herself in a convincing manner)? I promise to at least give it the old college try.

Maybe the spring air will inspire me.

Speaking of spring air, Rusty and I have created a monster. No, really. Our kitty, Gus, now loooooooooves the outdoors. It’s quite hilarious. He begs and pleads until we take him out. After we bring him back in, he begs and pleads some more. Or, maybe those particular meows are his way of saying thanks? He’s still not good about getting the harness on – I don’t think he likes it coming at his little face. Taking him outside will be a lot easier once he learns to chill out when we try to put the harness on – after all, he knows what it means! Come on, GusGus, if you know it means you are going outside, so why do you fight it?! Silly kitty.

Anyway, I got sidetracked there. What was I saying? Oh right, blogging. I'm going to try and get back into it. :)

Friday Five

1. At Weight Watchers a few weeks ago a woman talked about eating apples with sugar-free caramel pudding. I was intrigued. I tried it this week and really enjoyed it! I ate it as my afternoon snack this week. It took me a while to finish and felt like I had eaten a lot. Great snack for only 2 points!

2. I was sad to hear the Whitney Houston passed away this week. It's very sad that she got caught up in addiction, causing her life and talent to be wasted. Sad.

3. I did pick up Gus a new jumbo litter box last Saturday. We haven't put litter in the box yet, and Gus has had fun playing in it. Yesterday he actually took a nap in there. LOL!

4. Are you excited that American Idol is back on? I'm not a fan of the first few weeks, but I enjoy it once they make it to Hollywood. I have a few favorites already.

5. Rusty had to work some nights this week. Night work is brutal on him, but it's work. And work is good.

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Feel free to join me and post your own Friday Five,
just add a link in the comments to your post.

Friday Five

1. Gus now weighs 8.6 pounds. When do cats stop growing? Wow – I’m going to have a giant snow tiger on my hands!

2. Speaking of my jumbo sized kitten, I’m going to have to pick up a jumbo sized litter box this weekend. Back when I was getting ready to look for a kitty, I bought a large litter box. I thought, “Surely I won’t need one of those gigundus litter boxes until my kitty is around a year old. They look huge! I just can’t see getting that right away.” And I thought I was right in my assessment after bringing Gus home. After all, he was only 2.5 pounds. Boy, was that a mistake. My kitten started outgrowing a large litter box before he was five months old! Now he just dwarfs the litter box. One jumbo size coming up!

3. We have been trying to use up items in our overly-packed freezer. I found a bunch of Mexican style chorizo sausage tucked away. I adore chorizo with its wonderful paprika flavor. I decided that having so much delectable sausage must mean that I should make my Chorizo Stuffed Peppers. Oh my. I love those peppers. The chorizo flavors the rice stuffing in an amazing way! So. Very. Tasty. You should try them.

4. I’m looking forward to a day at home today. I’m going to try my best to be motivated to get a bunch of big and little things done around the house. Maybe Gus will help me finish labeling my files?

5. I can't think of anything else to say. So. Um. Have a nice weekend!

Friday Five

1. I met up with two HP friends (Lizzie & Peggy) of mine up in Baltimore on Saturday. We had a great time! We ate at The Cheesecake Factory where we savored decadent avocado eggrolls, noshed on delicious chicken lettuce wraps, and finished up lunch with a light and sweet lemon raspberry cake. Sooooooo good! Then we went to the aquarium and marveled at many of God’s creations, our favorites of which included the octopus, puffins, and dolphins. After that we walked around and shopped/window-shopped and finished the day at Panera for dinner. All in all, it was a wonderful day.

2. I made a yummy crab stuffed flounder this week. The smell of the crab and fish drove Gus crazy! He jumped up on the trash can – something he hasn’t done in months. I realized that I had kind of set him up to fail by putting crab scented stuff in the trash. I should have put everything into a small bag and taken it out as soon as I was done. Good thing the trash bag was mostly full anyway, so we could just take it out. Poor Gus thought he was being tortured with yummy smells!

3. Speaking of Gus, he had his first adventure outdoors this week...on a harness and leash, that is. Rusty really wants to be able to take Gus out on a leash. Tuesday evening we slipped the harness on Gus easily, since he didn’t know what it was. He did not like it and was slinking around the house at first, like the harness was weighing him down and keeping him close to the ground. I got one of his favorite feather toys out and got him to play and realize that he could still jump, but Gus still kept licking at the harness. Wednesday evening we put the harness on again (without too much trouble), attached the leash, put him in his carrying kennel, and took him outside. (We used the kennel so he could feel safe and come out at his own little pace.) It took him a minute of hesitantly taking little steps, but he came out of the kennel and walked around with curiosity mixed with nervousness. He was sniffing everything, of course. We are looking forward to the next warm day when we can take him out again.

4. I made some delicious lettuce wraps this week. I looked up a bunch of recipes and went from there. They turned out great! Recipe coming soon...

5. We had some beautiful weather this week...in the 60s and sunny! Loved it. Loved. It.

Friday Five

1. We went to dinner and a movie last Saturday evening with friends. We had a great time...except for the part where I started coughing uncontrollably. Good grief! Luckily, my cough attack happened during the previews and I only missed the first few minutes of Mission Impossible 3.

2. I'm slowly getting over the cold I got last week. All that is really left is this cough. I'm really tired of coughing.

3. I went to a post-holiday lunch this week at work. We couldn't all make schedules work in December, so we decided to just make January work. I had a nice mixed greens salad with a yummy crab cake. Drool.

4. Gus lost a tooth this week. He was play attacking Rusty when he started acting weird. Rusty said that Gus just spit the tooth out and was licking his mouth like it felt really weird. Rusty saved the tooth so I could see it and I, like any good furmommy would, took a picture of it.

5. You would think that coming up with five things to talk about each week, but it can be surprisingly difficult. Or I just live a boring life. Ha!

Friday Five

1. Wow. What a week! I blogged 5 times (including today). I know what you are thinking..."Pace yourself, Rachel!" I mean, it's not like I've been keeping up with my blogging in months. I'm going to try and blog more regularly. I promise. Not to mention...

2. ...I have quite a bit of new material in blogging about my migraines/headaches. Much, much, much more to come.

3. While we were off on Monday, we decided to tackle the mess that was our home office. We had to keep the door to that room closed at all times - it was not kitten friendly. We spent hours sorting, throwing away, cleaning, organizing, rearranging, and filing. It now looks like a completely different room. And we can leave the door open and let Gus roam around. It's wonderful! There are just a few more things to do and the room will be perfect. I really can't wait!

4. Gus has discovered our ceiling fans. He stares hard at them while pacing around. He seems to be trying to figure out:
a. what ceiling fans are,
b. if they are evil, and
c. how to get close enough to snif and paw at them.

5. Speaking of my kitten... Gus likes to sleep in the evening....at least until around 8:00 pm when he likes to run around like he has double-sided sticky tape on his tail. Did I ever tell you that story? Oh, it's a good one. I felt awful for the little kitty. He got some tape stuck to his tail and FREAKED out. He was hissing and growling like crazy! It took us a while to figure out what was wrong. He was scared and mad...at the tape that was obviously chasing him. We had to cover him with a blanket, Rusty held him down, and I ripped the tape off. Poor thing. Oh, so I guess he doesn't usually run around like he has double-sided sticky tape on his tail - just like a crazy kitty.

Friday Five

1. I have pretty much finished my Christmas shopping - except for a few things that I will have to get out in Kansas City. Woot! Now I just have to get wrapping. That is my task for the weekend.

2. We had a dessert party and an ugly/tacky holiday sweater contest at work this week. I stuffed my face with treats and won third place with my ugly sweater.

Polly says hi!

3. I put up my little tree Wednesday evening and Gus was only mildly interested. I will be putting ornaments on the tree tonight. We'll see how this goes.

4. What else? What else? I can't believe I'm blank. I feel like more has been going on. Oh well, I guess that means I'll end on this note...

5. I love my kitten. He is cute. Here is photographic proof.

Friday Five

1. I got a new iPhone this week. I ordered it online and Verizon said it would ship on December 9th. It shipped on Monday! Yay! I love it. It rocks my socks. And is very fast. And I love it already. A friend at work forwarded me an article on the 50 Best iPhone Apps 2011...and I've already downloaded a bunch of them.

2. I hope to be about 95% done with my Christmas shopping today. There are a few things I have to wait on, but I'm looking forward to being mostly done.

3. I meant to do some decorating last weekend, but just didn't have the energy when I had the time (story of my life). I need to just do it this weekend so we have plenty of time to enjoy all the prettiness.

4. We aren't getting a real tree this year since we will not be in town for Christmas. I bought a decorative wrought iron tree last year that I will try out. I hope I like the results! I'll post pictures later.

5. I am a little leery about how excited Gus will be by the decorations...specifically the tree and ornaments. LOL! I may put a few things out at a time...and I guess I need to make sure he has a chance to sniff things thoroughly.

Friday Five

1. I picked up a small vacuum last Saturday since we have to vacuum up kitty litter every few days due to an enthusiastic kitty. I got it home and excitedly took it out and put it together. It wasn't until I had everything out that I noticed that it was missing the charger. Great. A small cordless vacuum doesn't work well without being charged. Good news though - I was able to exchange the vacuum last night. And yes, I did check to make sure this one had a charger.

2. I am going to help my BFF tomorrow with a crafty project for her oldest daughter. We are decorating a paper turkey. Should be fun.

3. Have you started Christmas shopping yet? I have some things, and should probably pull it all out to make sure I remember everything I have. Shhhh, what I already have is classified TOP SECRET!

4. Rusty and I are going to a church barn bash tonight. Should be a great time - pig roast, desserts, bonfire, wheelbarrow joust, games, entertainment, and more! It's going to be in the 40s this evening, so I am going to be sure to bundle up. Brrr!

5. If you have a few moments, can you pray for my friend and founder of Hannah's Prayer Ministries, Jenni? She had a stroke on Tuesday which caused a seizure and left her unresponsive for a number of hours. She is still in ICU but hopes to be moved to a regular room in a few days. She is having some double vision in her left eye and a little paralysis on the left side of her face, but she is able to talk.

Friday Five

1. I am making Chinese for dinner tonight. Yum. Fried rice, sweet buns, and fried dumplings. I am using frozen premade dumplings that I got from an Asian grocery store. I tried cooking them a few different ways. I think today I will boil them first, then fry them. I didn't have any rice already made, so I had to cook some so I could chill it (you have to use cold rice).

2. I can wait to try this. Mix a cake mix and a can of pumpkin. That's it. Yum. I'm going to make it into cupcakes. Can't wait!

3. I love having every other Friday off. Love! ♥

4. Gus is sleeping on Rusty's chest. So sweet!

5. I am loving this cool fall weather. Oh yes, I dig it. Awesome.

{late} Weekly Scavenger

I didn't get around to posting my pictures yesterday. Whoosie! Here's my late entry.

1. Something black that fits in the palm of your hand
2. An electronic device
3. Something that rolls

1. Oreo! Yummy.

2. My least favorite device...the awful alarm clock. I do not like mornings.

3. Do you see the kitty in the background?

OGRAK: The final chapter

By now you all know that we brought a kitten home last Thursday, but I figured you need all the details. And lots more photos. Right?

First, I realized that in my excitement I forgot to tell you kitty's name. Silly me. Let me introduce you to Augustus, or Gus.

Gus and his sister were the only two small kittens at the Humane Society. Their foster mom was there and she started talking to me, asking what we were looking for. As soon as I said, "Kitten," she started telling me all about these two little kittens. When I asked about personalities, she said that Gus was the most cuddly of the two, and both liked to play. She tried HARD to talk us into taking both little things. She had me sold, but Rusty wasn't budging. LOL! So after some hemming and hawing, I decided to take Gus.

I have a kitty. No. Way! But yes. I have a kitty. Nah. Can't be. Wait, do I? Maybe so! KITTY!

Let's see, a few details...

• Gus is almost 11 weeks old
• He's super cute, sweet, funny, affectionate, and playful
• He pretty vocal but not so much that it makes you crazy
• He's part Lynx Point Siamese and probably part domestic short hair

Lynx Point Siamese

• Also known as Tabby Point Siamese or Lynx Colorpoint Shorthair
• Origin - mating of a purebred seal point with a tabby

Friday Five

OGRAK Addition

1. The little gray kitty we were trying to adopt was still sick. Rusty and I fianlly decided on Tuesday that we need to cancel that adoption. I was sad, but felt it was the right decision. We had been waiting for 3.5 weeks. Weeks!

2. We decided to try going to a different shelter...one where we wouldn't have to wait for a kitten to see a vet before we brought it home. So, we went up there last night and...

3. Phases 3 & 4 (find and bring home) are officially complete! I'll give you the whole story later. WOOT!

4. In the meantime, here are his basics... Our new kitten is a boy who was 10 weeks old yesterday. He is some kind of Siamese mix of some sort...which is funny since I stated repeatedly that I didn't want a Siamese. Ha! Isn't God funny?

5. Phase 5 is in progress and should be completed soon. Taking 1,872,463 photos shouldn't take long. ♥

Here is one for you: