Yikes!

(phone post)

This is our last night in MA. We're scheduled to drive to Providence early tomorrow and fly out in the afternoon. However, it's snowing like mad right now and it's supposed to continue throughout the night. I'm not sure we'll even be able to get out of my aunt and uncle's driveway come morning at the rate it's going. So far, our flights are still listed as on time, but, as I learned on the trip out here, that can change at any time. There isn't much we can do at this point besides wait and see what things are like in the morning. Mr Moo is busily packing up our stuff right now. Guess I should probably go help a bit.

Today, Mr Moo is taking apart and repairing my aunt and uncle's kitchen sink. The valves are wicked old, stuck and leaking. He's also putting in a new faucet. I, on the other hand, am prepping for sewing camp tomorrow. Mr Moo and I will be taking four of my cousin's five children to lunch first, then he will take the boys bowling while I teach the girls how to sew. We only have the afternoon together, so I want to get as much prepped ahead of time as possible. I also need to put together some sort of handout for them, too. Before I start on any of that, however, I think I hear a piece of pie calling my name.

Everyone having a good Christmas vacation so far?

I can hardly believe I'm halfway through my Christmas vacation already. I've been crazy busy up until now and the rest of my time here looks to be the same. After attending a weight lifting class at the gym this morning, Mr Moo and I spent most of the rest of the day at my parents' house along with my sister and BIL. Mom cooked a turkey and, as per usual, we all ate too much. My brother, who had to work all day, and his girlfriend showed up just as we were opening gifts. Surrounded by family with full bellies, we couldn't have asked for a better Christmas Eve.

Tomorrow, the whole family (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc) will be gathering here at my aunt and uncle's house for Christmas Day. My aunt is making a 27lb turkey with all the trimmings. It's crazy huge. However, with close to 30 people coming, there won't be a whole lot of leftovers by the end of the day. I have to be up fairly early to help get things ready in the morning, so I should get my sorry self to bed.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday. Merry Christmas!

My mom's totally cute mini-tree.

(phone post)

There was a hella lot of snow on the ground when I got here and it snowed even more after.

(phone post)

I never made it to Providence last night. I'm writing this from a hotel in Detroit. We left Portland and arrived in Detroit without issue. They boarded the plane for Providence on time. I called my dad to let him know we were on board and things were good to go for him to pick me up. Everyone was on board the plane and the flight attendants were just about to close the door when an airline rep came on board and announced that our flight had been canceled, we all needed to get off the plane and get rebooked on other flights. Joy. I called my dad back immediately. Unfortunately, he and my mom had already left in the freezing rain and ice for Providence to pick me up. For most people, this wouldn't be much of an issue since you would just call them up, have them turn around and head home. Did I mention that my parents don't have a mobile phone? Yup, there wasn't a thing anyone could do to contact them to let them know I wasn't going to be there.

There were no more flights out of Detroit last night, so I was put on a flight for this morning. I booked a hotel room and, after making about a million phone calls to everyone I could think of that my parents might call, I headed to the hotel.

The rest of the evening was quiet and boring. I had dinner here, watched some of the football game and fell asleep fairly early. Mr Moo spent most of the time calling my parents. Since the weather was so crappy, we knew it was going to take them longer than normal to get to Providence and back. However, as the hours added up, we really started getting worried something had happened to them. When I went to bed, no one had heard from them yet.

I woke up at 0200 and couldn't get back to sleep. I called Mr Moo (it was only 2300 in Portland) to see if he had heard anything and, fortunately, they had called and were home safe. I still don't know what took them so long to get home again. I wonder if they went out for dinner somewhere in Providence since they were there already.

Since I couldn't get back to sleep, I decided to just get up and head over to the airport early. It's just coming up on 0500 and the free continental breakfast will be open soon. I'm going to have something to eat, then hop on the shuttle. My flight is at 0952 and arrives at 1134. A friend of one of my cousin is going to pick me up from the airport this time. Hopefully, if all goes well, I should be at my parents' house by mid-afternoon. Wish me luck!

We have to be up at 0430 and out the door by 0530. I think I'm just going to sign off, shut the computer down now and attempt to get a tiny bit of sleep. I'm pretty wired so I don't know how successful I will be.

I'm still having trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that I'll be back in Massachusetts tomorrow and Christmas is less than 10 days away. The year has absolutely flown by. And I'm sure the two weeks I'll be away will also go by in a flash.

I'm not expecting to get online much, if at all, while I'm gone, but I'll holler if and when I can. Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday. See you when I get back. Merry Christmas, fishies!

I am pooped. All of this almost no sleep for the past three nights is catching up with me. Fortunately, I've got most everything on my to do list finished up, so I'm no longer completely stressing. I've got a few more things to pack and I might even actually get some sleep tonight. Since I have to be up at 0430, it won't be much sleep, but anything is better than nothing at this point.

Just checked my flights. My flight from New Jersey to Providence for tomorrow morning has already been canceled. I'm on hold with the airline now to see about getting things sorted. Oh, it's going to be a long night.

EDIT: They wanted me to still fly to New Jersey tonight and were going to put me on a flight to Providence on MONDAY. HA HA HA HA! Umm, NO. After being on hold for almost an hour, I think we have it all sorted. I'll be flying out first thing tomorrow morning on a different airline, going through Detroit instead of New Jersey, and arriving in Providence at 7:20pm tomorrow evening (instead of the original 9:43am). Hopefully, the worst of the storm will be long over by then and my dad won't have any trouble driving down to get me. I was looking forward to trying out the red eye flight, but at least now I can finish up some stuff tonight and I won't be losing too much of my vacation time when all is said and done.

Mr Moo went and got his famous flat top haircut this morning.

Awww, ain't he handsome? Not that I'm biased or anything. :-)

I managed a whole four hours of sleep last night. Add that to the few I've gotten each night over the past two nights and I've got almost one entire regular night's sleep over the past three days. If I don't sleep on the flight tonight, there is something seriously wrong with me. It's now time to, once again, check the forecast and whine about the weather misery that awaits me in New England.

My newest t-shirt arrived in the mail today.

An away team? Oooo, pick me! Pick me!

Before anyone mentions or asks about it, yes, I am fully aware of the giant storm that is roaring towards the East Coast as I type this. And, yes, I'm fully aware it's supposed to be going full bore just as my flight is scheduled to land. I've been in touch with my father, who is driving to the airport to pick me up, and we're checking the weather reports roughly every 10 minutes. If I can actually get to Providence and the weather is just too horrible for him to drive, I can either hang out in the airport (hopefully, somewhere near a TV so I can watch the Patriots game) or get a hotel room for the rest of the day/night until it clears up enough for him to come get me. If I end up stuck in Newark, I can do the same until I can get on another flight or see about taking a train up to Massachusetts. Like I told my father, there's absolutely nothing we can do about it at this point except wait and see what happens. As of right this second, it looks as if the majority of the snow and the worst part of the storm is going to hit much further north that anyplace we'll be. Keep your fingers crossed that is stays that way.

PS - I'm turning the MooCams off early so it will be one less thing I have to do tomorrow.

So much to do still. So little time. I swore I was going to get everything done way ahead of time this year, but it seems like no matter how much stuff I get done, there always seems to be more and more to do. I've got approximately 41 hours before I have to leave for the airport. I also have approximately 41 million things on my to do list. The next couple days should be interesting. Instead of trying to get more done tonight, I think I'm going to get my sorry self to bed and start fresh in the morning. Goodnight, fishies.

Weighing Zoe.

She's still hovering right around 7.75 lbs. We'd like to see it go up a bit, but we're very grateful it hasn't gone down at all.

I would totally pay someone right now to sit and fill out my Christmas cards while I dictated what to say in each one. Anyone need a job?

Can you guess whose butt that is sticking out of the sink?

I'd give you three guesses, but I think you'll only need one. We refer to this as "little kitty, big trouble".

For once, I was actually excited to see our natural gas bill arrive in the mail. It had a cow on it!

I have been working like a complete and utter madwoman for the past few days. I can now officially say I am completely caught up on all of my client website work at least. Woot! However, I still have some sewing work, Christmas cards, wrapping, shipping, baking, packing, cleaning, etc, etc, etc to do, all before I leave for my annual trek back East (which is in three days - don't remind me) to see my family for Christmas. Since I'm flying out alone (Mr Moo will join me later and we'll fly home together), I'm trying a red eye flight this time. My flight leaves Portland at 2200 on Saturday night and I should arrive in Providence around 0900 Sunday morning. Should be interesting to see what kind of shape I'll be in when I get there. That's assuming, of course, that I actually do get there. My father just sent me an email informing me that the giant storm heading for the East Coast looks to be hitting full force right around the time my flight is supposed to land. Originally, it was forecasted for later on Sunday afternoon, but it's moving faster now. Joy. Here's hoping it will hold off just long enough for my plane to get on the ground.

The items on my to do list aren't doing themselves, so I better get back to it. Later, fishies.

Christmas card from M, a good friend and client.

Isn't that hysterical? And, the best part? My paycheck was inside. Woot!

I found another turd on my desk the other day.

I have a small halogen desk lamp that gives off a lot of heat after it's been on for a while. It's a total cat magnet. They love it. If I leave the lamp on, Josie will sleep under it for hours. She's very cute, but it can be difficult to get any work done when she's sprawled out all over like that.

We weren't able to put the Christmas tree in its usual location (by the window in the front room) this year because of the drippy wippy ceiling. For lack of anyplace else to put it, it ended up in the family room where the cat tower usually sits.

For the first few days after we put up the tree, it was amusing to watch the cats running into the room making like they were going to go racing up the cat tower, coming to a screeching halt and looking at the tree like, "What the frell is this giant tree doing here???" Fortunately, neither of them has attempted to climb it instead. ((knocks on wood))

Christmas lights! Hooray!

Yesterday was weigh-in day. I hesitated posting because I thought I got a wonky reading. However, I weighed the same today, so it may not be wonky after all. Last week's weight change: -3 lbs. Three! Woot! I had my bloat on last weekend, so I'm sure a lot of that was just water weight, but I'll still take it. I have to admit that I was getting a bit discourage and wondering if I would ever reach my goal weight. I guess there's hope for me yet.

Height: 5' 2"

Current Weight: 114
Current BMI: 20.8 (normal)

Highest Weight: 167 (January 14, 2006)
Highest BMI: 30.5 (obese)

Goal Weight: 110
Goal BMI: 20.1

Pounds Lost: 53
Pounds To Go: 4

As I type this, Mr Moo and his father are on the roof, making like mountain goats and caulking everything in sight. They're fairly certain they've fixed the leak here in the bonus room (the builders hammered a nail right smack into the middle of a shingle. go figure.) and they're still working on finding the other ones. It's chilly out, but at least the sun is shining and there doesn't look to be any chance of rain anytime soon.

From last weekend. Out in the dark and the rain looking for leaks and attempting to assess the damage.

Yay!

(no, I don't know what I was doing either)

I forgot to mention that Zoe is feeling a lot better. Her appetite and activity level are both back up. I'm not sure if it was the dose of steroids I gave her that perked her up or if she finally managed to get that hairball out (in one of my shoes I'm sure), but she's doing much better now. Since she's become so high maintenance and "iffy" health-wise, we've been trying to find a pet sitter that can come over while we're away for Christmas. We're not having much luck though. I made a bunch of phone calls yesterday and it seems as if everyone is either already booked or they don't service this area. Our vet said he'd work something out so we could board her there if necessary, but we really don't want to do that because she gets so upset being there that she will not eat, drink or poop. I'm still waiting to hear from a few more sitters, so keep your fingers crossed for us.

I love Christmastime. The cards are all so cute and pretty.

This one is from my sister and BIL.

Another Christmas card arrived yesterday. This one is from one of our neighbors.

I wish the scanner picked up the metallic bits better. It's really quite shiny and pretty.

Zoe is not feeling well. She had a bit of a cold last week (sneezing and lots of green boogers in her eyes) and I don't think she's 100% over it just yet. She might also have a major hairball going. She hasn't been awake much today except to throw up, which she did quite spectacularly right here next to my chair. Twice. Unfortunately, if it is a hair ball giving her grief, it didn't come up. Aside from all that, she hasn't eaten or had anything to drink, as far as I can tell, all day. I just force fed her a jar of chicken baby food to make sure she gets some calories and we're going to give her sub-Q fluids tonight just to be safe.

I love this page from the book Do You Have a Hat? by Eileen Spinelli.

Do YOU have a hat?
Something fuzzy, warm, and red,
to keep the snowflakes off your head?

I love that the dog and kitty have scarves and hats on, too. The dog even has mittens! Cuteness overload!

Our first Christmas card of the year arrived today.

Inside reads: Christmas means we never have to ask God how much He loves us. Wishing you the blessings of His love this Christmas and in the New Year.

I need to get a move on and get ours done.

On Sunday, while Mr Moo was cursing and swearing at the water pouring through our ceiling, I decided to make a pot roast. It was cold, damp and miserable, so I figured some comfort food was in order. It's the simplest thing in the world to make, too. Here's how I make mine:

Start with one beef chuck pot roast.

Put it in the pot with some butter, onions, salt and pepper. Brown it on all sides.

Add enough water to almost cover the roast. Cover it and let it simmer for about two hours, making sure to turn it once in a while. Also, make sure to check that the water doesn't boil off. Add more if necessary.

After it's simmered for a couple hours, add a bunch of carrots.

Let it continue cooking for 20 minutes, then add a bunch of potatoes.

Cook it a while longer (10-20 minutes) until the potatoes are done. Voila! You have a pot roast.

It's about as far from a fancy dinner as you can get, but it's a perfect cold rainy Sunday afternoon meal and it makes for great leftovers.

My sister had surgery to have her gall bladder removed this morning. She's already home, sitting on the couch and bored. Ah, the miracle of laparoscopic surgery. She was actually on her way home about 30 minutes after waking up. Long gone are the days of being cut wide open and having to stay at the hospital for days. Now, you're in and out. My BIL was joking that he should have just left the car running while they operated on her. Heh. Seriously, everything went well and I'm very glad she's okay.

I've got a very full afternoon of work, work and more work planned. And, crap, it's already almost 1300. Better get my sorry self in gear. Later, fishies.

This whole ceiling nightmare started last winter. After one very heavy windy rain, we had a couple little drippies from the downstairs ceiling. We blamed it on the wind blowing the water up underneath the flashing. Mr Moo caulked like mad and hammered the flashing down really well. Since there were no more drips, we hoped that the problem was solved and moved on. Little did we know.

In the week leading up to Thanksgiving this year, the rains began. I was getting ready to meet with a client one afternoon and notice that there was a large fleck of paint hanging down from the ceiling where one of the drips used to be. I figured it was just residual damage from last winter that was only just now deciding to fall off. I called Mr Moo at work and he said he'd look at it when he got home.

He barely touched the spot and his finger went right through the plaster.

Yeah, it was soaking wet. It was just a small hole, but, upon closer inspection, we could see the the water damage all around it.

Looks like it wasn't the wind blowing water underneath the flashing after all. In an attempt to find the source of the leak, we needed to get up into the ceiling. With trusty drywall saw in hand, Mr Moo cut a larger hole.

No photo could capture the horror of the water pouring out of the ceiling when Mr Moo cut through it. You can't really see it here, but there is water coming off that dangling piece of insulation. Thank goodness we put plastic sheeting down everywhere.

Ultimately, Mr Moo needed to really get up in there to find the leak. Cue more cutting and a larger hole.

Not sure of the scale? Here is Mr Moo working.

Even after all this, he still couldn't pinpoint where the water was coming from. While I wanted the leak fixed as much as he did, I had a houseful of people coming over for Thanksgiving dinner and couldn't have water dripping on people. Fortunately, the rain had subsided and Mr Moo was able to work some magic with a temporary patch for the day.

Unfortunately, the rain has come back with a vengeance. When Mr Moo took the temporary patch down, we could see that there was water dripping down once again. And, not only was it still dripping in the original spot, there was another leak on the other side of the room now, too. Insert more plastic sheeting and hole cutting here.

I couldn't bear to take photos of the buckets filled with water on the floor. It's just too depressing. Amazingly, he was able to detect and circumvent the leak in the attic early enough that there isn't any visible damage or need for a bucket here in the bonus room. Thank goodness for small miracles.

So, as of right now, that's where we're at. Water dripping in the attic. Holes in the ceiling downstairs. Water pouring in through those. And a palpable air of frustration, depression and damp throughout the house. Mr Moo and his dad got together last night and took a good long look at things. I believe they have a game plan for repairs ready to go. We just have to wait for the rain to stop to implement it.

Man, it was a long weekend. It's been positively monsooning here in Portland. Couple that with gale force winds and you've got a recipe for disaster. Sure enough, our house sprung leaks not in one, not in two, but it in three places. Water is getting in somewhere around the window in the guest room, which is upstairs in the front of the house. It's working its way down through the walls and is leaking through the ceiling in the downstairs front room in two separate places. This is, of course, the room where I meet clients, work out and would normally put the Christmas tree. Considering there is water pouring out of the ceiling, none of those three things will be happening in there anytime in the near future.

The third leak is in the attic above the bonus room. The smoke alarm went off in here yesterday morning for no apparent reason. When Mr Moo took the detector down, water poured out of it. Gah! It's leaking somewhere high up on the main part of the roof and, like downstairs, the water is working it's way down through the framing into this room. Since there is a hole for the electrical wires above it, the smoke detector was the path of least resistance for the water to come through.

Needless to say, Mr Moo was not pleased by this recent turn of events. As for me, I'm trying to just not think about it or else I'll go mad. We've got holes cut in the ceiling, plenty o' buckets in place and seem to have the major flows of water corralled. There really isn't much else to do at this point since it's still pouring out. I'm sure Mr Moo has a repair plan in mind and will implement it once the rain stops. I'm just staying out of the way.

It's raining! It's pouring!

And our house is leaking. :-(

"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 116

Click here for the entry form.

TODAY'S WORKOUT: Cathe Friedrich's Low Impact Step

Two workouts in three days. Not a great re-start, but not horrible either. Just have to keep reminding myself to keep at it or I will never reach goal weight.

Today was weigh-in day. Weight change from two weeks ago (Nov 17): +1 lbs. I survived Thanksgiving and only gained one pound. It's a miracle! And, considering I'm due to start my period in two days, I wonder if it really even is a gain or just bloat. Whatever. I'll take it. I'm hoping to be able to drop at least a couple pounds before I leave for Christmas vacation in two weeks. I don't think I'm going to make it through the next holiday so unscathed, so all I can do beforehand will help.

Height: 5' 2"

Current Weight: 117
Current BMI: 21.4 (normal)

Highest Weight: 167 (January 14, 2006)
Highest BMI: 30.5 (obese)

Goal Weight: 110
Goal BMI: 20.1

Pounds Lost: 50
Pounds To Go: 7

"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 114



Click here for the entry form.

Round 114 is still open. I can't believe no one has guessed this one yet.

So much for our big snow. We did get some flurries for a while though.

It's better than nothing, I guess.

We're supposed to be getting "big" (for Portland) snow today. I've set up the Random MooCam out the front window to capture this elusive event. Feel free to take a peek this afternoon to see if the predictions have come true.

Click the image to check it out.

EDIT: It's snowing! It's just spitting out a few flakes, but they're there!

From this year's Chick-fil-A calendar, The Good, The Bad and The Hairy:

Davy Briquette
Seldom was heard a discouragin' word about one o' the most praised (not braised) cow cowpokes o' the Old West. Davy was an EXPERT big game hunter 'n trapper, and TRAPPIN' CATTLE RUSTLERS was one big game to him. Wearin' his signature coonskin cap and usin' crude cow decoys, Davy would snare hisself a few red meat wranglers and string 'em up. An' he wouldn't turn 'em loose neither - till they'd pledge by Davy's famous sayin', "BURGERS? WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' BURGERS!"