Rat-tat- ... Wait. DID YOU JUST SAY RAT?!

"Honey, do you want a new project?".
"What kind of project?" "
"Look. Pris found it"
"Is it a shrew or something?"
"Nope. Its a rat. But look, its eyes aren't even open!"

Sigh.

"Call the vet and find out if its ok to have around the other animals before you do anything"
"We can't just put it back, it will DIIIIEEEEE"
"Yeah, I know. Just call the vet."

20 minutes later, after a phone call and settling the miniature rodent into an empty recipe box

"Hey honey. Check this out"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! THERE's MORE OF THEM!"

Yes friends. More rats. In fact, by the time he found all THREE OF THE NESTS under our patio, there were 12 of them. He put them all back in their nests, and we put rat poison on the grocery list. We may not be able to kill a baby outright, but once they're all grown?

ITS ON.

A nephew!

My sister-in-law had her ultrasound yesterday and we found out we're having a new nephew in the family! It's so exciting to see those first pictures. There were great ones of his face, even, that we were able to see and get a glimpse of what this new little man will be like. Congrats to all the Pooleyatici!

In celebration, I made a pot of pumpkin spice coffee. I apparently hid about 1/4 pound of it from myself this winter and just found it last week. Im trying to stay away from caffeine since we're trying to get pregnant, but I think a new nephew is reason enough to celebrate!

As promised... plus a few extra

We have a cat mat instead of a doormat... at least on sunny days.


We're friends now! Most of the time...
Sabbath afternoon walk. The best part of the weekend for all of us I think!
Thursday afternoon I was asked to make a cake for the going-away potluck we were having for 2 different families who are leaving the area in the next few days. As one is going to the mission field and the other to complete a medical residency, I came up with the idea of the arrows and destinations. Hubband figured out the mileage for me, and here is the final result. Not too bad for little more than 24 hours notice! This picture it's hard to see, but the miles for Nashville is only 183. Big difference from Laos!
She found a cool place to sleep. After a walk earlier this week, we found her under the table on top of the boxes and sound asleep. The camera flash woke her up.
Out 'Mato! He's a little bigger now, actually. VERY exciting. We can't wait until next year when we can have a full garden instead of 2 little mato plants. Our jalapeño that we planted got dug up by birds and killed.
With the fact that it was youth sabbath and we were involved in the music for the service and for sabbath school, as well as the cake (which had to be finished and hidden this morning before one of the recipients arrived to help with potluck!), and potluck, and clean up... its already been a full day! We got home from church and pretty much just collapsed into bed. Of course, Scilla had been sleeping all morning already and didn't want to let us get rest. Hubband got up to play with her and let me sleep. I so appreciated it!

My friend DS got her first ultrasound yesterday. She's 5w4d and it was such fun to see the pic of her little peanut. :-) We also got to see the ultrasounds from our soon to be nephew or niece Pooleyaticus (They're posted there, too, if you wanna check 'em out!) a few days ago. So many babies! Maybe soon we'll have some news on that front, too. *grin*

There isn't much else of interest going on. We have the job hunt for Hubband, the continuing work on the house, the weekly duties at church, working full time, and trying hard to stay ahead or at least caught up with duties such as laundry and cleaning the bathrooms in the midst of it all. We also are preparing for a duet we're to do for special music at church in a couple of weeks. If I can get a good recording, I'll even post it for your enjoyment! For now? I'm off to grab some green chili rice, chips and salsa, and a big frosty glass o' lemonade. Wanna join me?

Getting Somewhere... I Think....

Well, I think we are finally getting somewhere...on ... something. At least I hope so! We have so many projects up in the air right now that each day I can cross off something is a day counted "good". Sometimes it seems like we are so busy starting things that finishing and crossing off are not even OPTIONS. Today I finally laid down the carpet in my office. I don't have shelves yet, in fact, I'm surrounded by stacks of books and journals on every available surface, but other than the shelves... and the molding in the closet, and the hanging of the last 2 pictures...my office is done. Its the ONLY ROOM in the house that is this close to finished and it feels almost anticlimactic. But it's so nice to come in in the morning and have a real room waiting for me. I no longer have to work, live, play, eat, and sleep in the same 2 rooms of the house!

In other news...we've got the first little tomato clinging to our Early Girl plant! I have pictures to post, but the post feature isn't working right now. Will try again later...

Practicing the short words

According to the almighty Internet...
1.My IQ Is 110, my Logical Intelligence is Below Average, my Verbal Intelligence is Genius, my Mathematical Intelligence is Above Average, and my General Knowledge is Average. The subsets of these convince me this is a total fake out of a test because I've been tested before and scored low on math, high on logic. I don't know which is better...
2. I will die at the age of 94 in a freak accident with a stripper pole (http://www.quizopolis.com/how_will_i_die_quiz.php)
3. My Villainess Name is The Heartless Demoness
(http://www.quizopolis.com/villainess_name.php)
4. My Pirate Name is Captain Soggy Beard of the pirate ship Smelly Draws (http://www.quizopolis.com/pirate_name.php)

Fun way to waste half an hour after a productive day. We actually got the swamp out back started on its way to clean living (ie, we got the pool pump fixed), the cabinets for the new laundry room are 40% sanded and painted, Hubband's office is 33% painted, the subflooring that was damaged in a flood before we bought the house has been replaced, I worked for about 4 hours, and we actually had time to relax a little! I even did the dishes, called my dad and sister (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NICOLE!) and spent some vegetating time on the couch.

It surprises me how busy we've become lately. My blog has suffered for it, as has my reading and probably my blood pressure. It seems we're always saying "yes" to something...I just need to start practicing that other word. The short one.

NNNNNNNN NNNNNNN NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
OOOOO OOOOOOO OOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhh

NUUUUOOOOOOHHHHHHH.
Its no use. I don't think it's in my genetic makeup.

Scotcheroos

Pour 6 cups of dry cereal (best with rice krispies or special k) into a large bowl. Bring 1 cup sugar and 1 cup corn syrup to a boil and add 1 cup peanut butter. Pour over cereal and mix well. Press mixture into a buttered pan. In the microwave or double boiler, melt 1 cup butterscotch pieces and 1 cup of chocolate chips together, then pour over the top of the cereal mixture and smooth. Chill or let cool until the chocolate sets.

I just posted this on my kitchen site, too, but it bears repeating! It's a family recipe the my MIL taught me. Someone mentioned rice krispie bars so Im craving them now. I'm sitting at my desk with a dog in my lap which makes clear typing nearly impossible. However, do I move her? no! Of course not! hehe