RIP Louis

Last week I lost my kitty Louis. He was 15 and it was not unexpected - but it was still sad. I'll miss you Loodle my Lou-burger. Hope you're having a blast at the great cat-nip farm in the sky.

Boo!

Guess who finally found the cord that connects her camera to her computer? Yay!

Muffin's Pre-Zoo picture

Riding the Metro

Crowds of families trick-or-treating.

One of the many displays set up around the zoo.

Muffin's "Metro Ballet" which she performed while waiting for the train. God, I love this girl.

La La Lame

Guess who didn't take their child trick-or-treating this year. Yep, that would be me. Lamest mom ever. I wasn't comfortable taking her around the apartment complex where I'm subletting (though I'm not supposed to be - see below) and I don't know of any nice neighborhoods to go to - seeing as I've lived here all of a month! Also, it was raining and she got to trick-or-treat at the zoo last weekend. So, there it is - my rationale for not manning up and taking my sweetheart out for free candy. I suck.

Another lame thing? The subletting. I'm so ready for it to be over. SO, so ready. The lady that I'm sub-letting from is nice enough, but I'm afraid I'm never going to see my deposit back. Also, she is constantly coming by to pick up various items. I feel like I have to keep the house in tip top shape "just in case" she pops in! Not that I live like a pig or anything - I just can't relax in that kind of environment.

Every time I see her name on the caller id I cringe. Mercifully, she was out of town for a couple of weeks but sure enough, when she came back she called. This time it wasn't to stop by - it was to tell me that there had been FOUR complaints of "crowds" in the apartment.

Wait. What? What kind of complaint? Crowds? I just moved here for crying out loud! I don't even know enough people to constitute a crowd! It's just been me, the Muffinator and the cats! Scouts honor!! She said she didn't believe for one minute that the complaints were legit but she just wanted to call me an ask about it to make certain before she called the management back. She said they wanted to make sure she wasn't subletting the apartment. Because apparently that's against the rules. Great!

When she casually dropped that information I was afraid she was going to then tell me to pack my stuff and go. But no. She doesn't care about the rules. She said she was going to tell them that I was a "dear friend" who just moved here and is staying with her until I close on my new home. So, not only are Muffin and I officially "homeless" we are staying in a place illegally. Yet another reason why I am The Lamest Mom Ever.

Then I told her the good news about the condo and she said to let me know as soon as I can when we'll be out because she'll need to find another subletter. Awesome way to continue your rule-breaking rampage lady! I can not even tell you guys how badly I want to get into my new home. I wish we could have closed on it sooner than the end of the month. Every day is another reason why I am ready to finally get settled.

On a brighter note... I have recently received a few awards and I promise to post them soon and redistribute the wealth! Also - I'm loving all the Halloween posts! The costumes are to die for! What a creative group of bloggy-friends!

Hot Damn!

You Are Betty Grable

The ultimate girl next door You're the perfect girl for most guys Pretty yet approachable. Beautiful yet real.

Sleepy Car Time

This week has been kinda sucky - despite the fact that today is my birthday! Argh. So, I'm posting pictures that make me smile. Muffin. Asleep. In the car. Adorable.

Pictures were taken with my camera phone - and I only recently learned how to email them to myself. My little girl, she can sleep through anything - in any position. Gotta love it.

Weekend Roundup

Wow, when you have to work five days a week the weekend seems WAY too short! Just saying…

This weekend was pretty busy. Muffin and I drove three hours back to Hampton Roads in order to get my hair done. I love my hairdresser and thought “Hey, three hours isn’t THAT bad” but I was wrong. Because, it’s not just three hours. It’s three hours to GET THERE, another two hours for hair dressing and then three hours to get back home. And frankly, that’s insane. I was insane for even thinking it. Needless to say, I told Brenda (my lovely hairdresser) that I probably wouldn’t be making the trip again. She agreed and said she thought it was a little “crazy” to drive so much for a cut and color. Yes, yes it is.

So that pretty much ate up all of Saturday. At least my hair looks awesome. On Sunday Muffin and I laid around the house until about lunch time. Then we went to Target (does anyone else pronounce that store Tar-jay? Kind of with a French accent? Just me? Oh well) because Muffin needed a plastic pumpkin in order to trick or treat at BOO at the Zoo. I tried to tempt her with an environmentally sound eco-bag – but she wasn’t having it. Plastic pumpkin or nothing in her book.

After Target we went to DSW because home girl needed some boots. I have to say, not wearing the uniform anymore is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, I’m not restricted to an ugly outfit the color of cat sick. On the other hand, I have to buy all new stuff to wear. Still, it has really forced me to spend some time and money updating my woefully unfashionable wardrobe so I guess it’s a win/win all around. I bought three pairs of boots. They are awesome. I’m going to wear the crap out of them this season.

Finally, it was time to get home and get ready for BOO at the Zoo – which started at 5:30PM. I got Muffin in her costume and managed to get us out the door a little after 5PM. She looked adorable and I guess I was distracted by her loveliness because I plum forgot the tickets. We had to turn around and by the time we were back on the road it was nearly 5:30. We rushed into the Metro station where I was accosted by a man trying to get home. He asked for a dollar and I gave it to him. I’m a sucker for a sob story. Anyway, we hurried to the platform only to discover that the train wasn’t leaving for another ten minutes! Crap.

Once on the train, the Metro ride was pretty uneventful. Muffin attracted some attention – after all, she was the only princess on the train. We had to switch trains and that ate up some more time. Then we had to walk three blocks to the Zoo entrance. By the time we finally got there it was 7PM. And dark. So, we didn’t see any animals but Muffin scored a bunch of candy. Next year, I’m going to budget some “metro” time into the planning phase because I had no idea it would take as long as it did.

In unrelated news, I want to give a special shout out to Safeway. Yesterday after work I stopped by the store for some wine and stuff and when I was trying to tote said wine up to the third floor apartment I am staying in, the bag broke. Probably due to the bottle of Sprite that was sharing the flimsy bag. I am not even kidding when I say that some really colorful language followed this disaster. My wine was now a puddle and I was pissed. Here are some pictures I took with my phone for “evidence.”

I put the rest of the groceries away, packaged up my broken wine and drove right back to the store. The whole time Muffin and I were in the car I was having a mental argument with the store manager. I just KNEW they were not going to replace the wine and I was ready for a fight. Never happened. The lady at the customer service desk could not have been nicer. She took the offending shards away, told me to get another bottle and TRIPLE bagged it! Thanks Customer Service Lady! I hope the universe does her a good turn.

Ok, well - that's it. Hope everyone has some spook-tacular plans for Halloween! Can't wait to read about them!

Sunday Classics - Smetana's Moldau

Ah, the return of Sunday Classics!

I heard this one on the radio last week. It is a fantastic, moving piece composed by Bedrich Smetana back in 1874. He called it a Symphonic Poem - and that's what it sounds like to me. Here is an excerpt from his program notes:

"The composition depicts the course of the river , beginning from its two small sources, one cold the other warm, the joining of both streams into one, then the flow of the Moldau through forests and across meadows, through the countryside where merry feasts are celebrated; water nymphs dance in the moonlight; on nearby rocks can be seen the outline of ruined castles, proudly soaring into the skies. The Mouldau swirls through the St. John Rapids and flows in a broad stream towards Prague. It passes Vysehrad [ where an ancient royal castle once stood ] , and finally the river disappears in the distance as it flows majestically into the Elbe. "

Awesome. Enjoy!!