NO PRESSURE!

Ben is pretty awesome at a lot of things. LOTS! Like, he’s very good at never EVER leaving a toilet seat up. He’s a champion cookie eater. And he’s the best dog cuddler you will EVER MEET.

But one thing he’s far above average at is driving. We joke back and forth quite often (mainly I joke) about who is a better driver but he is hands down one of the best drivers I’ve ever gotten into a car with. And I don’t just mean every day driving around town. I mean like, get him on a track and he will give you a ride like you have never had before. The times I rode with him I often hopped between THIS IS TOTALLY AWESOME and OMG WE ARE GOING TOO FAST TO MAKE THAT TURN then followed that up by I AM GOING TO HURL GET ME OUT OF THIS CAR!!

Watching these videos often makes me nauseated. When you are in the car, those high speed turns, the force of the car fighting against what all the laws of nature say should not be possible… the video just doesn’t do it justice. It’s a pretty awesome feeling.

Ben hasn’t driven like that since his accident. I know he misses it. It’s in his nature.

So Monday when he sent me an email about going Karting with some of the guys from work I was like YES! GO DO THAT! Because Ben after driving fast is the best kind of Ben to be around.

I was totally kidding.

Kind of.

But I had no doubt that he’d come home with these:

It’s a good thing too because he’s also an excellent source of heat on cold nights. I can’t imagine how much it would cost me to have to try and stay warm if he wasn’t around.

Postdate.

So I technically missed yesterday’s post but I’m back dating this. I’M CHEATING. But because I literally had NO CHANCE to post yesterday. I’ll explain this in a few hours when I’ve had some sleep. 1.5 hours of sleep is NOT ENOUGH. In a nutshell yesterday (today if you’re going by the date of this post) this happened:

MORE SOON!

NAPTIME!

Fire list.

Most people who know me know that I’m agnostic. I have a science mind. I believe proof. If you can prove to me that Santa Clause is real, I will believe it. I believed in Santa Clause when I was a child, but I stopped a long time ago. For the same reason, I do not believe in a higher being.

Show me proof! Show me the REINDEER! Show me the bunny that lays Easter Eggs! Show me the pot at the end of the rainbow.

SHOOOOOOWWWW MEEEEEEEEEE THE MONNNNEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!!!!!

Sorry, I got carried away.

So most people who know me would probably be really surprised to know that these two things below are two of my most prized possessions in the world.

One is a Bible given to me by one of the most amazing women I’ve ever had the honor of knowing. It was a Christmas present. Less than a year later she was gone forever.

After her funeral I collected all the funeral programs I had and tucked them in there. Since then I’ve added a few more. One for her husband, Gerald. One for Julie’s amazing father.

I still look to this book every once in awhile because while I think a lot of it is bullshit diatribe, I think if you look to it with the right perspective and in the the right light, it can be a good source of wisdom.

The Rosary was a gift from my dad and step-mom when I was in high school. It’s made out of rosewood and smells DIVINE. As good now as it did the day I got it. I remember in my private Catholic school learning about the mysteries of the Rosary. I remember how I hated that class even though I found the study of religion somewhat fascinating. I remember how EASY life was back then even though in my 16 year old mind I was certain that life would NEVER BE MORE COMPLICATED THAN IT IS RIGHT NOW.

When I see it now, I remember to take a deep rose scented breath and that no matter what, life could be harder, life could be easier, but life is just life. It’s never so bad that you can’t handle it.

Everybody has their “fire list”. What would you grab out of your house if you had 1 minute. And yes, my cell phone and my laptop are on that list, so are my favorite clothes and my camera but just above all of those other possessions are these two things. With these two things I will always remember where I’ve been, who came before me and that the future is always out there in front of you, full of promise and more people to love you along the way.

1 year with Samus.

The day we bought Kumo and brought him home was an awesome day… to everybody except Hans. Hans thought it was THE WORST DAY EVER and proceeded to try and eat Kumo’s face off. After that if a cat came within 50 feet of Kumo he’d try and climb your leg to get away from the scary cat who weighed 50 pounds less than him. Hans has NEVER taken to the dogs and because of the way that Kumo met him, he’s always been scared of cats. So for a long time Ben and I threw around the idea of getting a kitten and trying to reintroduce Kumo to cats with something a little less threatening and FACE EATING.

So a year ago today our friend Lisa posted to Facebook that the San Jose animal shelter had WAY TOO MUCH CUTE of the kitten variety and was giving them away fixed and vaccinated for $10. On a whim, we drove up to see if we could find our zoo a new member.

At first I really loved these two all black kittens but they were really skittish and Ben was unreasonably against bringing two cats home. MEANIE!

Then they brought in this tiny grey female. She scampered across the bench, crawled into Ben’s lap and started to purr so loudly I’m pretty sure the windows shook a little. We wanted something calm and cute for Kumo and that is exactly what this little girl was.

So Samus came home with us.

When we introdued her to Kumo this time we did it through a crate door, calmly and for longer times slowly. A few hours later we placed Samus next to Kumo as he laid on the floor and Kumo SHOOK. He was like GET IT AWAY FROM ME I AM SCARED. SO WHAT IF IT’S ONLY AS LONG AS MY NOSE!?

But he got over it quickly. Especially when Danica was like WOOOOHOOOO WE GOT A NEW PUPPY TO PLAY WITH YEAH! From about the second day she’s been home, she’s been one of the pack… of dogs. I’ve never SEEN a cat that acts so much like a dog.

Eats when the dogs eat, wants to go out when the dogs go out, sleeps on the floor with the dogs, she is a kittydog. She also liked water which we realized about three days in when I was in the bathtub and she jumped in… then just hung out in the water.

When we had her about a week, this happened:

So while Hans still very much wants to eat Kumo’s face for dinner, he can be around cats now without laying on the floor and convulsing. Plus, we got this crazy kittydog that plays with Danica, Kumo and all the dogs that come over to visit.

HAPPY HOMECOMING DAY, SAMUS!

Saturday Snapsots.

For the last two days I’ve been in denial about the fact that I feel like crap. Not, period crap, like I’m-going-to-hurl crap. Finally today I took my temp and, YEP! Just under 100 degrees. Great.

I did start a Day In The Life and was doing pretty well till I just felt too bad to care. So here are some shots of my Saturday. Just a few.

Post run stretching. Looking back, going running when I felt the way I did was probably not the best idea.

How adorable is that dimple?

Husband smile. <3

Moments before I took my temp and decided that today was officially over.

Took a long nap, Ben and Cassidy brought me some food and now I’m about to lay back down and cuddle with my love on the couch while I fall asleep and try to sleep off this nausea.

Forcing my body to feel better tomorrow because there is STUFF TO DO. STUFF NEEDS TO GET DONE.

YOU HEAR THAT BODY! STUFF!

Hope you all are having fabulous weekends!

Wordless Wednesday. Except I use words.

Good News: I didn’t cry at all today.
Bad News: I ALMOST cried when I let The Hormones talk me into eating a bagel at a meeting today and I felt like CRAP afterwards. CRAP.

Good News: The sunset tonight was AMAZING.
Bad News: I saw it from the car. It was the fourth hour I’d spent driving my car today. My butt was numb.

Good News: I looked pretty cute today.
Bad News: Bloating, cramps and Spanx do not mix. TRUST. Also, 13 hours in high heel boots. UGH.

Good News: The feeling when I took off those boots.

Bad News: Tomorrow is not Friday.

And I am exhausted. GOODNIGHT!