Kitty Deschanel | Food, Wine, and Travel Adventures Across the USA

You've all been very patient waiting to see our new home. The bank admits we "fell through the cracks" (their exact words!) but now we're finally, finally going to actually build this thing. The bank actually took so long that we have no choice but to close on our construction loan next Wednesday, because waiting until next Thursday would be outside the application window and we'd have to start over from the beginning. That said, next Tuesday would be too soon to close on the loan because the bank "can't possibly have everything ready" on their end by then. I just have to keep reminding myself that we got a screamin' deal by going with Compass Bank. Our house is going to look just like this (pending HOA-approval) but with a few nifty details Sexy Nerd's computer program couldn't show - yellow shutters around the big square window and a white (or possibly red...no, definitely white...I think...) arbor above the garage door. We're...

  We had a bit of a drama-filled afternoon today. I stepped out of the shower, only to discover the floor drenched in blood! Somehow, Pica had caught one of her toenails on her baby gate and ripped it right out. If she were a human baby, there'd surely be a lawsuit, right? Still, our poor little furbaby! One gigantic claw I held her steady as best I could. Jack Russell terriers don't really do "steady". There was always something twitching or shaking! Sexy Nerd applied styptic powder , which THANK GOODNESS we had on hand. If you have a pet, be sure to buy some of this. Ours came free with Pica's toenail clippers. In the 10+ years we've had her, we've used it only once before, when a nail was clipped a tad too short, and it stopped the bleeding almost instantly. This time, however.. ...it kept bleeding... ...and bleeding... ...AND BLEEDING... (Ack!) After more than an hour of using my best wresting moves on Pica, and with almost all o...

For the record, I'm using the term "crazy" in only the most loving of ways, especially if you happen to actually be my boss currently reading this. You are still my boss, right? C'mon, ol' buddy, ol' pal. Also, "ol" is not short for old in the above sentence. Sixties are the new forties, after all. I love my boss. I've worked for her for more than 12 years and am planning to stick with her until she retires. She's a pediatric dentist who gets enjoyment out of treating her patients with compassion and kindness. How can you not love a person like that? Okay, here is the quote: I was walking down the hallway at work and my boss and I crossed paths. I always feel a little out of place when this happens, thinking that because my job is at a desk up front, I must surely be loafering* around if I'm spotted in the hall. But nature doesn't care, so as we walked by each other, I awkwardly squeaked that I was just heading for the restroom....

Reading this made me feel a lot better. Also, my suspicion is that the problem with #9 is the cemetery sold my family plots, then re-sold the same plots to double their profits and it's finally catching up to them. I've made the best parts bold . 3:23pm  I talked to Jackie and Andrew today.  They were at the mortuary with Grandma making the final arrangements.  Jackie said she is doing OK, and Grandma is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances.  Here is my understanding of the sequence of events: 1.  They brought Grandpa home from the therapy place on Monday the 28th of March.   2.  Andrew mentioned that he and a hospice worker gave Grandpa a bath sometime during this time frame, and that Grandpa hated it .  He also mentioned that Grandpa wasn't doing well and slept most of the time. 3.  Both Jackie and Andrew said that Grandpa had a really good day on Wednesday, the 30th as he seemed to rally.  ...

I'm not the sort of person who believes in things like this, but my Grandpa died today and when I got in my car after work, the radio was playing an oldies station. Old oldies, like music from the 30s. The radio display said I was still on the same R&B station as this morning, yet it was actually on a different number altogether. Before thinking anything of it, I pressed the button to change the station. The station did not change.

Thank you to everyone for your kind comments about my poor Britney. She was the best dog ever. Looking back on my memories of her, she wasn't the most ideal puppy for me though. At the time, we probably both would have been better off without the other. Right before I graduated from high school, my 26-year-old boyfriend and I rented a cheap, dilapidated duplex together in a terrible part of town. Here in Albuquerque, it's affectionately known as "the war zone". It was really bad - no heat, which is illegal, cockroaches spilling out of the sidewalk whenever we'd walk through the neighborhood, and a landlord who would show up late at night, drunk, when I was home alone and threaten to beat up my boyfriend for not paying the rent (which made me defensive at the time because I'd given him the rent money, but looking back, I'm sure my loser boyfriend had squandered my cash on something else and lied about it.) The house two doors down made it onto the news...