Root, root, root for the spiiiiiiiider - Play by play

I am sitting in an office adjacent from my own since Jamie is on the computer critiquing my recent work.
I came into this office to work on the next purchase order for Phoenix. This office isn't used very often - as the lady who used to "own it" decided to quite her job after having a heart attack (brought on by her job).

I sit down at the computer and hear a fly at the window, on the inside. Bzzz bzzz - I'm not surprised, as this office is pretty dingy. But then the buzzing doesn't stop - so I look over to find the location of the sound. Whoa, it's stuck in a spider web!!!
So, apparently I have never seen this sight before. Usually the fly is already dead and the spider about to munch down.

I put my glasses on for a better look and open the blinds. The spider is inches away, just waiting for the fly the stop struggling. One wing stuck to the web, the other frantically trying to free itself. Yeah little dude, that's just going to make it worse. Stop struggling and become comfortably numb.

The spider take a few stops closer once the fly settles down. Bzzz, back he goes again. It's almost like the spider is tickling the fly. This is so amusing to me! The spider waits for the fly to quiet down again and takes a few steps closer. Bzzz bzzz bzzz...
"Forget it" - (I'm pretending to be inside the spider's head). "I'll just go about my business and finish working on my web."

Fly (now a proper noun) is about twice the size of Spider. The web, about as long as my finger tips to elbow, using a dead parade rose plant to help secure the ends (and I'm sure to draw the attraction of unsuspecting flies).

25 minutes have now passed of bzzzing and non-bzzzing. One wing going strong. Spider tickling Fly, back and forth, back and forth.

I'm being quite productive with my purchase order. One item located on the internet (instant snow - yeah, I'm testing to see what we can get away with). I don't feel bad, taking the time to watch nature. I'm staying late today, since my first piano lesson doesn't start until 5... just saying, for those wondering how I can get away with such nonsense.

Ahhh, silence. I take a peek between writing sentences. Fly is motionless, Spider on his head. Maybe sucking some bloo-bzzzzzzzz. Nope, still alive and kicking. Spider braces himself on his web.

35 minutes passed and Fly is getting tuckered out. He's only moving his legs as he's probably given up the wing technique. Bzzz. Oh but has he? He's doing the bzzz-wiggle-wiggle now. A lil bzzz a lil wiggle wiggle. Spider just chillin' on Fly's head. Fly starts to buzz again while Spider is holding his hand. We'll call this the Bzzwaltz.

45 minutes.
Hmmm, spider looks a little plump. Fly is no longer moving.
I think we can all guess where it goes from here.

Yes, that's right. Leslie gets back to work and leaves Spider and Fly to privacy.

I think I should publish children's books.

Feel the Music - Readers be warned: The content below may BLOW YOUR MIND!

Okay, I'm a strict believer of music motivating, healing, soothing, inspiring the mind, body and soul. Heck, I'm a Music Therapist.
What does "feel the music" mean to you?


I saw an ad for the following in an Oprah magazine while chatting it up with some ladies in my Phoenix group. Awkward? Yes.

OhMiBod = Oh My Goodness - is this really necessary? Especially the video???

What really kinda disgusts me (amongst the spelling of accessories) is that OhMiBod's abbreviation is OMB - which to me means my always awesome One Minute Bible bible study.

One Minute Bible - The first socially acceptable vibrator.

I think not.

My favorite tiny things

Niall at 6 months. I love his bright blue eyes and his already receding hairline (he inherited from Brian) He is doing extremely well and down to only 1 breathing treatment a day.

Meet Watson and Ginny - 5 weeks old

It appears that Watson, too, has blue eyes. They match his chewy bone

Ginny's first steps at her new home

The bat came back...

Saturday night I retreated from the attic, ready for bed, to find Ben standing in the stairwell moving his head as if watching a tennis match.

"What are you doing" - I ask?

"There's a ba - WATCH OUT! - bat in Erik's room." Ben replies.

"Ewww, really? I wanna see!" - I exclaim, excitedly! But then I realize, I'm only excited to see a bat up close, but not necessarily living in our house.

I knock on Rich's door to inform him of our new house guest. He proceeds out, in his undies, to take a gander. Rich and I stand in the hallway watching the bat fly around Erik's room, ducking every so often as the bat changes course towards our faces. Ben is in the bathroom removing the window for easy escaping.

Finally, Rich leads the bat into the bathroom and we shut the door. In the morning, no more bat.


Last night, I was startled awake to a scratching. I think to myself, "Ohh the mice are back... " and drift back to off to sleep.

A few moments later I wake up again to feel a breeze not coming from the window fan and hear a "ting" of wing against metal (the lamp above my head).

ACK!!!! The bat came back! And it's in MY room!!!

Frozen in my bed, I pull the blankets up over my head. After my heart settles down, I turn on the light so that I may pin point the location of the creeper.

Stupid.

Bats fly - it's EVERYWHERE! It does a couple laps around the room, then lands on my window treatment. I get a good look at the bugger and shimmy down even more into bed. He takes off again and I position myself under the blankets, but still able to see him in the mirror, flying around my bedroom.

Think. Think. I don't want to get out of bed. Think. What if he has rabies? Think. What if he poops on me? Think. Think.

I feel comforted by seeing him fly around through the mirror. It's when he lands out of sight that I get more freaked out. After a few more laps I decide to make a move the next time he lands.

Finally, the sound of flapping wings stops. I slowly gather my comforter up off my bed, still keeping it above my head. I tip toe out of bed - keeping my arms up and protecting - whole body completely draped in my comforter. I find the location of the bat - on my quilt hanging. I move to the door, open it and back away.

The bat takes flight, making several more laps before landing again. Damn! Get out get out get out!!! This time he's on my dresser, scurrying about blindly. Stupid animal. I hope you get a good meal with all those daddy longlegs up there.

Another flight and out he goes. Woo! I shut the door, shake my nerves and hop into bed. I'll let Rich and Erik handle the bat now.

I take one last look around the room and turned out the light.


So... we have bat problems. Anyone wanna stop by around sunset time and keep a watch for bats flying about?

Bike haiku

I bike home from work
No worries of speed limits
I love my blue bike

From here and to there
A lowered car insurance
More cash and fresh air

Feist Counts to 4

Sometimes I wish I were still a wee little one so I that could stay home and watch cool television programs with awesome musicians.

T-Shirt Bag: Demonstrated

This is what you'll need:

1 t-shirt
1 pair of scissors
1 saftey pin

Step 1: Lay shirt on flat surface and cut a straight line just below the armpits.



Step 2: Measure two-fingers-width at the top of the cut t-shirt. Cut that width all the way across your t-shirt. This will become your thread - Set aside.



Step 3: Turn your t-shirt upside down, so that the edge you just cut is facing you. Cut "piano keys" all along the bottom, creating fringe.

Once cut, tie the matching front and back "keys" together and double knot.

Step 4: Cut a diagonal line (or triangle) in the hem of your t-shirt on both sides


Cut your thread to make one long piece. Attach your safety pin to one end of the thread.

Work the safety pin through the entire hem of your shirt.

Tie the two ends into a knot.

The finished product:

Or if you don't fancy the fringe, turn it inside out for a hobo effect:

Every year is a little better

I had such a wonderful 27th birthday - well I guess it could be a birthweek because that's how long it was celebrated.

It all started with an awesome trip "home" to have some quality girl time including Lori's bridal shower and shopping for Er's bridesmaid dresses:

Then on my way home, Ben called to say I was getting an early birthday present. I was thinking it was a puppy. But no, I got a freakin' grill!!!
It was a bit chilly :-) Ohh, and I now wear glasses 75% of the time.


On my actual day of birth I received flowers from Er and Jon:

The wine and herb tour over the weekend was a blast. I highly recommend visiting me in Ithaca so I can take you on a tour :-) It was a special treat to spend time with our out-of-town visitors!

Cheers!

Giant Peach

These aren't TOO recent but definitely worthy of posting.

This is just a glimpse of what I see around downtown.

If only I had my camera on me more often.

Tiny World

Ben and I spent a bit of time in Penn State this past weekend. The Pennharmonics had their Shamrockapella concert and Beer Pong Tournament (Ben and Pete lost).
Also, I had invited Jamie and Ricky along because a fav band of theirs was playing at Zeno's and they wanted to meet up with old friends from when they worked at Penn State.

We dropped Jamie and Ricky off a their friends for dinner and the rest of us headed to the concert.

I wasn't much in the mood for hanging out with the undergrads at the Beer Pong tournament, plus I had promised Melissa that I would take her out once she turned 21. We headed to Zeno's to catch The Blue Method perform. I called Jamie and they said they'd be running late. So I downed a couple of G&T's and taught Melissa's friends how to pour/try GOOD beers while waiting for both the band to perform and J&R to show up.

After about an hour, I look up and see Andy Pierce walking towards me. Yes, I just wrote Andy Pierce. Holy crap! We greeted with hugs galore and chatted a bit. I see Jamie and Ricky coming in and I point to them as I'm telling Andy who I was waiting for. Turns out, he CAME with Jamie and Ricky. Holy FREAKIN' crap! Andy Pierce is friends with Jamie and Ricky. (BTW, for those of you who haven't spoken with Mr. Pierce within the last 4 years, he now goes by Andrew.) Anyway, this was just blowing my mind. And apparently his too because he would look at Jamie and myself interacting, while standing in complete disbelief.

This is a teenie tiny world we're living in.

To summarize:
Shamrockapella was entertaining
PAO lost to the currents
The Blue Method pretty much rocks
Ricky and Jamie are friends with Andy Pierce

Pet Peeve?

You know those little plastic baggies that reside in the fruit/veggie section of grocery stores? You can tie them in a knot or use the twisty-ties?

Well, I find these baggies completely unnecessary when purchasing fruits/veggies (for the most part - we'll get to that in a minute).

Reasons for not needing them:
Fruits/Veggies contain their own protective layer
You're just going to (hopefully) wash them anyway
The little sticker on the item is easier for the cashier to read, unless they have them all memorized
It's wasteful - the life of a baggie consists of a loop around the grocery store, into yet ANOTHER bag and then thrown out (not recyclable) as soon as you get home.

Even with all those reasons, Ben still insists on using them. I just don't get it and it drives me insane with every single trip to the grocery store.

I do have 2 reasons for possibly accepting the usage:
You have multiple little items that you MUST keep together
The skin on the fruit/veggie can easily be punctured and ruined - but even those flimsy bags can only withstand so much pressure

If this is your case, then I suggest using a canvas bag that can be used and re-used for all your grocery shopping needs.

Now I lambie down to sleep...

For the longest time I truly thought there was a prayer about my beloved Lambie. And yes, I still have Lambie - newly repaired thanks to Mama Clarke for her creative-surgery and cloak.

But with all seriousness I would like to ask you for your prayers. My nephew, Niall, has been diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. For those of you who don't know what CF is, I enclosed a copy of WebMD's definition.

"Cystic fibrosis is a disease that causes mucas in the body to become thick and sticky. This glue-like mucus builds up and causes problems in many of the body's organs, especially the lungs and pancreas. People who have cystic fibrosis can have serious breathing problems and lung disease. They can also have problems with nutrition, digestion, growth, and development. There is no cure for cystic fibrosis and the disease generally gets worse over time.

The life expectancy for people with cystic fibrosis has been steadily increasing over the past 40 years. On average, people who have cystic fibrosis live into their mid-to-late 30s, although new treatments are making it possible for some people to live into their 40s and longer."

Knowing those statistics, it's very hard on my family right now. Brian and Loni are doing the best they can and being proactive. Even though signs won't appear within the first couple of years, they are already starting Niall on a vitamin and researching CF centers to find the best care.

Niall is currently with Loni in California, visiting her parents. It was extremely difficult to get him out for fresh air in bitterly cold Idaho. Plus they were finding it hard to get the right vitamin for Niall in/around Sandpoint.

Right now Brian is struggling with this news all alone (the dogs are in CA, too). Luckily he has the restaurant and his band recordings to keep him busy. He'll be flying to CA next week so he can be with Loni and Niall for Easter and then they'll all return to Idaho the following week.

There is a bit of good news with this terrible disease. The doctors say that Niall will be able to attend a typical school and be active in sports. There is no reason why he should not be able to live a fulfilling life. He has wonderful parents and a huge loving family. We have been receiving a bunch of support and hearing success stories from friends who have encountered CF within their own families.

Plus, what better father than a percussionist to do all the chest percussion?

May God bless you, little one.

Niall Rennie

I felt that nephew pictures were a bit more important than the kitchen pictures. He's so tiny...


Lily is so cute, protecting lil Niall.

Welcome little one!

Niall Rennie Hibbard was born today (2/4/08) at 7:37am PST
5lbs 12oz 20in
Hair, toes and chin of my brother and ears of my sis-in-law

Congrats Brian and Loni!

Lost is Found

The countdown begins...

Actually it began about a month ago, at least for me - but in three days I'm going to be indulging in the season 4 premiere of Lost in glorious HD heaven, biting my fingernails and pulling my knees up to my chest while underneath a blanket.

And then 8 weeks from then I'll be crying, since that's all folks. At least for now.

Fingers crossed that the strike will be over soon and we can get all our questions answered.

My type of man

Does anyone know?

Being part German I am ashamed to admit that I am unaware of when Fausnaught Day is this year.

I do know, however, that it started when people needed to use up all the baking ingredients around the house prior to Lent. Does this mean that it is always the day before Lent? Or the day Lent starts?

Does anyone know?!

First step

Here's what we're dealing with here:













The best part is the current jaundice color scheme:

Just makes you kindawanna puke, huh?

First, I took care of removing the shelves/drawers/hardware while Ben carried them down to the basement to be sanded and puttied and sanded again:

And now for several views of the kitchen with random poses brought you by BAC

I had a bit of a tiff with the wallpaper, and now I'm sanding the remains

And a couple shots of the kitchen with the empty cabinets -
making us ready for more sanding and then painting!

Home renovations for the new year!

For the last week, Ben and I have been removing parts of our kitchen to repair, remodel and refurnish.

I'm currently in the process of taking pictures of the progress. I will post as we renovate.

It's quite exciting being able to make little to huge modifications in your own home.

Happy New Year!